A New Beginning
by Iluvtvshows
Summary: Jay Halstead with his daughter move to Tree Hill, North Carolina, where he gains new friends and love in the form of one, Brooke Davis. Jay navigate's his new job and learns about true love. Includes the unit team members and nearly the whole Tree Hill gang.
1. Jay's Visit

_This is a Brooke and Jay fanfic._

Chapter 1 - Jay's Visit to Tree hill

Tree Hill

Jay Halstead steps off the plane at Tree Hill International Airport, only having a carry on with him, Jay leaves the airport and heads over to the taxi rank, he hops in and gives the address of the police station because he has no idea where the precinct is. Paying the driver he steps out onto the straight in front of a beautiful old building. Heading inside he meets his new boss and team.

The team consists of Kevin Attwater, Kim Burgess, Antonio Dawson, Alvin Olinsky, Adam Ruzek and Hank Voight is the Sergeant, otherwise known as the boss. Jay tells the team a few things about himself, where he's from, he worked, what unit, things like that. He's a very private person when he doesn't know anyone so doesn't tell them a lot of personal information yet. He wants to get to know them better, have a good relationship with everybody at work, the personal part will come eventually.

While at the station, Jay takes the liberty to fill out most of his paperwork, also gets his photo and finger prints taken by the Desk Sergeant, Trudy Platt who seems quite tough to Jay. He leaves the Station feeling good that he accomplished more than half f the paperwork, no he starts in two weeks there won't be too much and he will get to work quicker.

Jay then finds his hotel pretty quickly, he checks in getting himself situated for the night. For dinner, Jay isn't really hungry, in truth he never feels hungry so never really eats a full meal, he eats an apple that he brought with him. Sitting on the couch, Jay calls his Brother, Will and Sister, Abigail who are watching is Daughter Maddie until he gets back, he asks them how she is and then he gets to talk to her promising to be back soon. After coming off the phone, he takes out his laptop and starts to research the place he has an appointment with the next day. He has an appointment at a day care for his daughter to go to when they officially move into the town, he looks it up so he knows what to expect and a little more about it. He learned that the Day Care is owned by three people, Brooke Davis, Haley James Scott and Karen Roe Scott, he is hopeful that it is a good match for his little Angel. Jay eventually goes to bed early.

In the morning, Jay is up at the crack of dawn getting changed into workout clothes, he grabs his head phones and leaves the hotel for a morning run, but Jay finds that he doesn't really need music because there is no annoying sounds that need to be blocked out from hearing. While out running, Jay gets a couple of "good morning's" from other people out for an early morning run. He stops for a break outside of a place called Karen's Cafe, that is still closed but Jay can see inside and the image he sees brings back some memories for him, good and bad ones. He decides to check the place out later and maybe he will bring Maddie when they have gotten settled.

Heading back to the hotel, Jay lounges about for an hour then takes a shower and gets dressed for his first appointment of the day, he meets his realtor and then look through some pictures of houses, Jay picks up one picture and asks to see the house, the realtor grabs the key for it they walk to the house, which is beautiful and faces the beach, Jay decides that Maddie will like that, because she loves the beach, inside it is pretty nice, one bedroom upstairs and two downstairs, Jay will give the biggest room to Maddie and set it up like her room now but better and with more stuff. He likes this house because it has three bedrooms and the couch pulls out into a bed, that means that Will and Abigail will be able to stay with them for about two weeks after they move, to help them settle in and everything. Jay told them it won't be necessary but they both are persistent about it. With a plan set in motion, Jay buys the house and on the way back to the realtors office, he thinks about him, wondering if he's making the right decision, ultimately he thinks that this move will be the best for his precious daughter and himself too, they both need a fresh start and maybe they will find happiness here.

When he leaves the realtor's appointment with another one scheduled to nearer the time to pick up the keys, he then stops outside of Karen's Cafe again, he needs some coffee so goes inside. Where he is greeted by an amazing aroma, he just wants coffee so sits at the counter, where an Alex serves him, he sits drinking his coffee looking around the place and feeling nostalgic. Jay is interrupts when a blonde haired woman comes and the place lights up, all of the customers and staff, shout "Hi Haley", he thinks that name rings a bell. The woman goes through the back and comes out again a few minutes later, but she stays busy so Jay doesn't get the chance to ask her about the day care. He pays for his coffee leaving a generous tip for his server who was very polite, and leaves heading for his appointment.

It doesn't take him long to find the right building it is literally two blocks away from the cafe. He is greeted by a woman who looks about twenty years older than him but she seems nice and is well mannered.

"Hi you must be Mr Halstead, I'm Karen Roe Scott, we spoke on the phone last week".

"Yes Hi it's nice to meet you Mrs Roe Scott", Jay says.

"Oh please just call me Karen everyone does, Mrs Scott is to formal".

"OK then you can call me Jay, no formalities needed".

"Right Jay, so we talked on the phone about a place for your daughter, Madeline, starting in two weeks time. you need Monday through Thursday day care for her, you have a late start on Mondays so don't need to drop off until about 11am, every other day is early drop off, it may be a late pick up depending on your job. Fridays may be required sometimes again depending on the job. Does that sound about right did I miss anything?", Karen asks Jay with a smile.

"Yes that sounds about right you have a great memory. I'm sorry to be so demanding it's a new job and the hours are meant to be better, I changed jobs so I could spend my time with my daughter. We are moving to Tree Hill to hopefully find a fresh start, In Chicago as a Detective I worked crazy hours and hardly had time to spend with Madeline and I want to change that", Jay tells Karen.

"It's demanding at all, and may I just say that it's very commendable to want a fresh start to spend more time with your dad, she is one lucky little girl".

"Thank you I'm trying to be better and I couldn't do it with out my brother and sister, they've been amazing with everything. my brothers coming to help me move in the house that I bought here, we're gonna decorate Maddie's room and arrange the place so it's ready, and then my sister's flying out with Maddie, they are both gonna stay to help get us get situated and comfortable with the move especially Maddie", Jay tells Karen.

"That's good if you need any help with moving anything, I know some people who would be happy to help", Karen tells Jay.

"Thank you, I might need to take you up on that but I'll let you know. My brother, Will and I are flying in again a week on Wednesday, the moving truck is being driven in on Wednesday night, so should arrive Thursday morning. So Wednesday is the perfect opportunity for painting, There will be three bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen to paint so we could use extra hands with that as long as the people don't mind of course", Jay says sincerely.

"I will talk to them but I'm sure they would love to help and so would I, and it just so happens that the day care is closed a week on Wednesday until the following Monday when Maddie will start with us".

"Really why is it going to be closed if you don't mind me asking" Jay says genuinely curious as to the reason.

"The building is going to be closed for maintenance and along with the other two owners I agreed to having someone come in and give the building a make over. It won't be too different, just new carpets and flooring in certain areas, changing the colours of the walls and moving some areas around to better suit the activities. We actually got a bunch of new books donated and a lot of new supplies are being delivered too. On top of that we planning a little change to the garden as well, getting rid of our old climbing frame and putting a new one in. My son and his brother are also putting in a basketball court", Karen explains to Jay.

"Wow, it sounds like it's gonna be big, I can't wait to see it", Jay says a little excited.

"We hope it will work out and the children will be happy, it is all for them really, to provide them with fun and care at the same time, I actually have a question to ask you if that's OK", Karen asks.

"Of course you can ask me, I'll do my best to give an answer", Jay says.

"Well I do this with all of our first time parents coming here, we like to know a little bit about the child or children, to get a sense of their personalities and interests, what they like to do and play with. So I was wondering if you could share with me somethings about Madeline".

"Of course, well she likes To be called Maddie, it''s only Madeline when she's in trouble or being reprimanded for something by myself or my siblings, which hardly ever happens, Maddie is a cheerful little girl. She is very small for her age, my siblings and I usually work with her, she can read and write, knows all of her letters and sounds, numbers and most of the times tables. She likes to write and draw, she is very artistic and has a lot of art supplies at home. I wanted to give my daughter the best of both worlds, I always tell her that she can play with and do anything thing that she puts her mind too. Maddie plays with girl stuff like dolls but she also likes to build things and do more physical stuff, she's a good climber and is most likely going to love the new basket ball court. Maddie is a little shy with people but when she finds someone that is nice, she likes to talk and get to know people a little. Then she will be best friends with the certain child", Jay tells Karen.

"Maddie sounds amazing and this certainly helps for us to know, so we don't push her into anything she doesn't like or want to do, we don't want to do anything to make her feel uncomfortable, so we will set up a plan and make everyone knows that Maddie will adjust in her own time, she seems like she might want to play on her own for a bit and as she gets to know everyone's names she might open up a little, I do suggest that on her first day, if possible that you her early. We will take a tour and you can spend some time with her inside and make sure she's comfortable before you leave".

"Of course I will definitely do that. Oh just one more thing Maddie is allergic to nuts and bee's stings, I will hand in an Epi pen just in case, just for the records and so you know".

"Oh of course I'll note down, we don't usually have nuts here but I will make sure everyone knows about both and underline it in her file. The last thing I need for Maddie's file are contact details for you, like your new address and phone number, and the details of anyone else you would like to have as emergency contacts for Maddie", Karen says kindly handing over a clipboard to Jay.

"Oh of course, it'll be myself, my brother and sister as the contacts", Jay says as he starts writing down the details. Once down he hands the clipboard back.

"OK that's that then we're all set here and will be ready for Maddie to join us", Karen says.

"That's perfect, thank you, I just have one question. I read only that there are three owners, I was just wondering if all three of you work in the day care?" Jay asks.

"Yes, there are three of us, we also co own the cafe a couple of doors down, I also kind of co-own the bar TRIC with my daughter in Law, Peyton".

"Karen's Cafe, so your the Karen it's named after?" Jay asks with a smile.

"Yes, I am the Karen, I opened it after I had my son Lucas, it's where he met his childhood best friend Haley, they did everything together. Lucas had always had a rivalry with his half brother Nathan, they started to get along better in high school and Haley fell in Love with Nathan, they got married when they were 17 and in their senior year, Haley became pregnant. I was pregnant at the time too. My Daughter and Grandson where born less that 24 hours apart. Haley and Nathan are like a son and daughter to me so Jamie is my grandson. After High School, Lucas married one of his sweethearts, Peyton and they had Sawyer, my granddaughter. So Jamie and my daughter, Lily are the same age as Maddie, and they go here too, maybe they will become friends, Sawyer also comes but she is a year younger. Anyway to get to the point, I sold the cafe after Lucas graduated High School and sailed around a little bit with my boyfriend at the time. Eventually we broke up and I moved back with Lily, we went into business, reopened the cafe and started the day care", Karen explains.

"Wow" is all Jay has to say.

"I apologise that was probably to much information we're practically strangers", Karen apologises.

"Oh no don't worry about I shared unnecessary stuff with you too, I'm the one who asked the question", Jay laughs a little.

"Well you should know that the people who are going to be with me helping you paint are my family, Lucas, Peyton, Nathan and Haley, the children will be there too, I hope that's OK", Karen explains and kind of asks.

"Oh no of course it's OK, I love kids and if everyone is willing to help, dinner will be on me and Will", Jay tells Karen sincerely.

"I can pretty much guarantee that everyone will be more than willing to help with the painting and anything else you may need, but food does always go over well with this group of people. We can be a little loud but we will try to keep it down", Karen says.

"Don't worry about it, we could use a little loudness and chatting, Will probably won't keep quiet either so honestly don't worry about it. It's nice of you to ask them, but please don't push them if their busy or anything".

"OK Jay, I will talk to everyone in a group nearer the time and call you to let you know, is that OK?" Karen asks uncertainly.

"That would be great thanks, I'm gonna get out of your hair, I've talked enough to last until I see you again", Jay laughs.

"No problem, I'll let you go as well, you leave tomorrow don't you?" Karen asks.

"Yes I have an early flight in the morning, can't wait to get back to my Angel", Jay says with a wide smile.

"Well I'll see you when you come back and are an official member of our town", Karen tells Jay giving him a light hand shake.

Jay leaves the meeting with a smile on his face he thinks that his little family will like it in the town, and can't wait to come back again. Move in and finally introduce his little girl to their new home.

 _I'm not sure what the next chapter will be yet._


	2. Chicago

Chapter 2 - Back in Chicago

In Chicago

On the plane back to Chicago, Jay spends sometime thinking about the new house, what colours of paint to buy to decorate which rooms but most importantly what to do about Maddie's room, He of course wants to ask Maddie's opinion it is her room, within the next week or so he was going to ask her questions about it.

When the plane lands, he goes straight through to the arrivals area to get a cab home. He hears a voice that makes him smile.

"Daaadddyyyy" a little voice shouts. Jay automatically bends down and picks up his daughter who has run to him.

"Hi Mads my Angel did you miss me, huh?", he asks with a smile.

"Yes, Daddy I missed you so much, but I had fun with Uncle Will and Auntie Abi", Maddie exclaims with happiness.

"I'm glad Angel, I missed you too", Jay says walking over to his brother and sister, who are waiting.

"Hey big bro, how was it?", Abigail asks.

"Hey lil sis, it was good, I really like what I saw, it seems like a nice place to live, some people are maybe gonna help us paint when we go", Jay says hugging Abigail and looking to his brother at the second part.

"I'm glad lil bro, now lats get outta here, you took pictures right, I wanna see them", Will says with excitement in his voice.

"Yeah I took pictures, let's go group, we'll pick up a pizza on the way and I'll show you the pictures and tell you all about it ", Jay says still carrying his daughter.

The drive was mostly silent but they stop at their favourite Italian take away to pick up two pizza one cheese and the other pepperoni, everyone's favourites. Back at the apartment, Jay puts his bag in his room and joins the other three on the couch. They enjoy easy conversation for a while then move on to the topic of Tree Hill.

"Well the police precinct seems nice, it's an old beautiful building with a lot of character. I met my new boss and team, they all seem really nice and were welcoming. I met with the realtor and he showed me pictures of places, but one in particular stood out, it has three bedrooms, so sorry Bro and Sis but you'll need to switch off for who gets the couch and the bed, one couch does turn into a bed so it won't be that bad", Jay says jokingly, he has other plans.

"Anyway the house is nice and it's location is a secret from miss Mads here, it's a surprise Angel but I think you'll like it, but here are some pictures", Jay says taking out his phone and pulling up the pictures of the inside of the house. All three seem to like it, Jay puts the rubbish in the bin and looks back on his family, the three most important people in his life. He can't wait for this new beginning.

They spend the rest of the day together and make a plan for packing up the apartment, well at least Jay and Maddie's stuff. Will is going to be staying in the apartment, he has lived with the father- daughter duo for like a year or something, and Jay told him to keep living in it, so he is. Jay enjoys spending some time with Maddie before going back to work. The day is good, and ends with Jay and Maddie falling asleep together after a bedtime story.

The next two days at work are hectic, Jay is still in the Gang unit that is working him like crazy, they have a big case that is finally solved at the end of the two days, Jay is so tired that he just wants to sleep. He heads home and spends the night drawing with his little girl, who is happy to have her dad home and with her.

Wednesday brings a surprise encounter, Jay is dying for a good cup of coffee so after dropping Maddie at her current day care, he goes to his favourite place. Walking in Jay is looking at his phone, he is looking forward to hearing from Karen, today she is going to call or text him and let him know what the group say about helping him exactly a week to the day. Too busy concentrating on his phone, he doesn't see the woman walking towards him also looking at her phone. They crash in to each other, the woman's coffee is spilled all over Jay's hoodie, the woman stumbles backwards falling but Jay has fast reflexes and catches her before she falls.

"Are you OK? I'm so sorry I didn't see you, I didn't hurt you did I?", Jay blurts out, after helping the woman steady herself.

"What? Oh I'm fine but I'm the one who should be sorry, I didn't see you and just spilled coffee all over you", the woman says.

"OK, so we didn't see each other, it's both our faults, and we're both sorry, I think we're all good, don't you?" Jay says and asks, while bending down and picking up both phones that had fallen during the accident.

"Thanks but are you OK, the coffee was really too hot, are you sure you didn't get burned? you should take that off and at least let it dry", the woman says after taking her offered phone from his hand.

"I swear I'm fine, no burns this hoodie is really thick", Jay says pulling his hoodie off and tucking it under his arm. "Now let me buy you another coffee, since you wasted half of your cup on my hoodie".

"Oh god no, I can't let you do that, it's fine I'm going be late anyway if i don't get going".

"OK compromise, I buy your coffee and you buy mine, I totally get running late, because I am too, but it will be really quick there is no one else waiting, plus this place has the best coffee in town", Jay says with a slight smirk.

"Alright lets go, I really need this coffee especially today", she says as they order their respective coffees and pay for each others.

"Well thanks for the coffee, I need it today too, enjoy the rest of your day", Jay smiles softly at the woman.

"Thank you, and you too, again I'm really sorry for ruining your outfit".

"Don't be, it's fine and I'm really sorry too, I'll see ya", Jay says and leaves the coffee shop. He jumps back in his car and drives off to start his work day.

In Tree Hill

Karen called has called a sort of family meeting meeting in the cafe, everyone is there, Haley, Nathan, Peyton, Lucas and the kids are there but their is one person missing, Brooke, who is out of town at the moment.

"OK, everyone as you may already know I don't just call a meeting like this for nothing. I kind of have something to ask all of you", Karen tells them.

"Mom are you OK, what is it, you can ask us anything, right guys" Lucas says.

"Yes of course anything", they reply at once.

"Well OK, Haley do you remember that I had a scheduled meeting with a new client for the day care at the end of last week?" Karen asks.

"Yeah I remember, you just told me that it went really well" Haley answers a little confused.

"It did go really well, it was a father wanting a day care for his daughter, they are moving here from Chicago for a fresh start and new job, it was like a normal parent interview kind of thing. He eventually told me that he had just bought the perfect house" Karen says.

"That's nice, what's his new job?, Peyton asks.

"He is a Detective so will be joining the police here, but the point is he was telling me is that he is coming back earlier than his daughter is coming, he wants to decorate before his sister flies in with his daughter. He has a brother that is coming with to help him, but it is a three bedroom house..."

"OK, that sounds nice and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you offered to help", Lucas says.

"I did, and they fly in on Wednesday morning, the moving truck with their things is coming on Thursday morning, the painting has to get done on Wednesday", Karen lets out.

"Wow, that's a short time frame for two people with that big a house", Nathan says.

"Yes it is and that's why I'm going to help and I was wondering if you all would mind helping too, Jay told me not to pressure you but if you do decide to help he says dinner would be on him and I know he would be so thankful", Karen says honestly.

The group all have a discussion and then agree.

"Well since the day care will be closed, we would love to help out, and I for one want to meet this guy, from what you told me he seems nice and like a dedicated father", Haley says.

"Yeah we don't mind at all, maybe we'll get anther guy to join the group, we're a little out numbered with all you ladies" Nathan says with a smile.

"Thank you guys, this means a lot to me and to him, Jay just wants to make the transition easier for his daughter, he wants to have her room already for her, the way he talked about her, she is his whole life", Karen says honestly.

"Aw that's so sweet, what's his daughters's name and how old is she?" Haley asks.

"Her name is Maddie short for Madeline and she is the same age as Jamie and Lily", Karen says.

"Do you hear that Jamie, you might get to make a new friend at day care", Haley says animatedly to Jamie who she has on her hip.

"A new friend? I'd like that, when can I meet her Granny Karen?, Jamie says.

"Yeah Mama I want a new friend too, when can we meet her?, Lily asks her Mom.

"Well kids, next Wednesday, we are all going to meet Maddie's daddy and help him paint his new house, I don't think Maddie is coming to Tree Hill until Friday night or Saturday morning", Karen tells them while picking up Lily.

"Maybe we can invite them to join us on the Sunday, we could have a little pool party at our house to Welcome them", Haley suggests.

"Yeah Mama, a pool party sounds like fun but Aunt Brooke will miss it", Jamie says sadly.

"Well can call Aunt Brooke after the party and tell her about your new friend and then when she comes back we can have any other pool party so she can be there", Haley says.

"Yeah lets do it", Jamie and Lily say at the same time.

"Sawyer what about you honey, what do you think about getting a new friend and having a pool party", Karen asks her Granddaughter.

"Granny that sounds fun" Sawyer says excitedly and everyone laughs.

"Well thank you all for giving up your time to help, I'll call Jay later and let him know", Karen announces.

The group disperses back to their jobs and day care. Later on when Karen calls Jay to tell him the news, the phone goes to voice mail but she leaves a message because she knows that he must be working. Hours later the phone rings.

"Hello"

"Hi Karen, it's Jay, I'm sorry, I missed your call earlier".

"Oh hi Jay, honestly it's fine, I knew you were working so just left a message".

"Yeah thank you for that and thank you so much for asking your family to help me and I don't know how to thank you enough for doing that for me, it means a lot".

"Oh it's no problem at all, everyone is more than willing they want to meet you, Lucas and Nathan will want you to join their guys club, they say they are outnumbered by the ladies", Karen says which makes Jay laugh.

"If they still want me to join after they meet me I would be honoured to, and I can't wait to meet everyone too, they sound amazing from what you have told me about them", Jay tells Karen, who also smiles.

"Anyway, give us a time and address, we'll be there".

"Um well we have an early flight at 6:30 am we should be there before 9 am, when we get there, we are going to go to the store to pick up the supplies that we are going to need and then head to the house, so is about 10 o'clock a good time for everybody?", Jay says and asks wearily.

"10 am sounds great".

"If it's not that's OK too, it can be later, for just a while or whatever everyone is comfortable with" Jay rambles a little bit.

"Jay honestly 10 am is perfect, it gives plenty of time to get the kids fed and ready, don't be nervous it'll go great".

"Thank you again Karen, I'll let you go, you have the address so we'll see you there a week today".

"No problem Jay, we'll see you then". And with that they hung up. Each with a smile on their faces.

In Chicago

Thursday and Friday were relatively quiet for Jay, there were no cases at work, so it was just a lot of paperwork to fill out, he got to go home at reasonable times both days, gving him time to spend with Maddie asks her more questions about the secret project.

Saturday was spent mostly packing, Abi took Maddie out to the park for a while, Jay was all alone because Will was at work, so he decided he needed some caffine to keep him going. He headed out to the coffee shop, where again, he ran into someone, the same dirty blonde haired woman as before.

"Oh god not again, I'm so sorry", she says while composing herself. "It's you again, did I get you with my coffee again", she asks when she realises who she crashed in to.

"Hi again, we really need to stop meeting like this, I'm fine, no coffee on me this time but it is on the floor".

"That's good, at least it's not on you this time", she says grabbing napkins and bending to clean it up. Jay grabs some too and bends too help. Between the two they get it done quite quick.

"C'mon lets get you more coffee, I need one too and I'm paying for them both", the woman nods, they order their coffee, Jay pays and they exit together.

"So I really wanna ask you out on a date", Jay Admits.

"Oh really?" the woman says with a small smirk.

"Yeah but I'm actually moving out of the city in like a week, it wouldn't be right to start something we can't finish".

"Oh that's nice and it works out because I'm not even from Chicago, I'm just here visiting so there's really not much of a point to it", she admits and agrees.

"It's a shame but maybe you'll meet someone else to throw coffee over", Jay says with a smirk.

"Hey, that was accident, I don't make a habit of it thank you very much, and I said I was sorry", she says giving him a playful tap on the arm. He laughs a little.

"I know and for the record i'm still sorry".

"Well thanks again for any other coffee, and if there is ever any other chance encounter or meeting the coffee would be on me, I'd owe you that much", she adds with a little smirk.

"Maybe One day?", Jay asks.

"Yeah maybe", she adds.

"Well bye" they each say and turn in opposite directions.

Jay goes home to keep packing and the mystery woman who happens to be none other than Brooke Davis from Tree Hill, heads to Chicago MED where she has been everyday since arriving in Chicago.

Sunday, Jay again spends packing and playing with Maddie. Brooke again is at the hospital, visiting her ungrateful Mother.

By Monday, Jay has everything packed, he has a duffel bag filled with clothes for when he goes to Tree Hill with Will, everything else is boxes that are sealed and waiting to be transported to the new house. Also in the duffel bag are paint brushes and tape. Maddie's room is mostly all packed up too, most of her clothes are packed in boxes, except for enough to last her until she comes to Tree Hill, most of her toys and all of her art supplies are also in boxes. All of their bed sheets are packed too.

Monday Jay's team gets a new case, it's his last one and he works hard. The case is cracked open by Monday and they have the suspect behind bars on Tuesday morning, but during the take down, Jay was injured and hushed to hospital.

During Brooke's time in at Chicago Med, she had just been quiet and kept her head down except talking to a few nurses taking care of her mother. But on Monday she ran into someone on her way in, he was a doctor. She needed a friend and he was as good as anyone. She learned his name was Dr Halstead. He tells her that he is going to Tree Hill to help his Brother who is moving there. Brooke tells him that's where she lives. The conversation ends because he gets paged away to the ED to treat a patient. Tuesday they are talking again, he asks her how her mother is and she tells him the same as always, there's something familiar about the man that seems to make him seem comfortable to be around. She can't put her finger on what it is so puts it to the back of her mind. They are having coffee in the early afternoon when his pager goes off.

"Crap, my brother is being brought in to the ED, what has he done now. I'm sorry to but this short but I have to go, I hope your Mom feelings better soon".

"Oh no honestly it's fine go be with your brother, I hope it's nothing too serious", Brooke says.

"Thank you for understanding, I hope so too, maybe I'll see you sometime in the Tree Hill", Will states and walks away.

Brooke takes her coffee back upstairs, all the while thinking and hoping that the doctors brother is OK.

 _So Brooke's been introduced now!_


	3. Leaving Chicago

Chapter 3 - Leaving Chicago

 _An injured Jay leaves Chicago heads to Tree Hill with Will._

In Chicago

After receiving the page and saying bye to Brooke, Will runs to the ED, he is worried about his little brother. Head Nurse Maggie informs the team that they are one minute out. Will prepares himself.

"Male, 20's, one stab wound and some bruising, most likely concussion, lost consciousness for a while", the lead paramedic states off.

"On my count transfer, 1,2, 3 and move", Dr Rhodes and the team move Jay from the stretcher to the gurney. they all start fussing around him.

"Alright stab wound is superficial just needs some stitches but lets get a portable x-ray of the chest really quick". the machine is wheeled over and an x-ray is taken of Jay's chest.

"Jay I'm going to check your eyes and head", Will says as he shines a torch in his brothers eyes, they show sign of concussion. Will rattles off questions Jay answers.

"Definitely a concussion but we should send him upstairs for an MRI to check for bleeds and any fractures, no broken ribs by the looks of things there just a little bruised, they'll have to be wrapped up loosely, after the scan we'll get him into a room for a few hours for monitoring and get him stitched up", Dr Rhodes says.

"Um, I'm fine, I don't need any of that, seriously it's just a headache, sore ribs and a scratch", Jay says a little irritated.

"No Jay you have a concussion that needs to be watched for a while, at least two bruised ribs and a stab wound that needs to be stitched it, you are going for an MRI and we might have to change our plans for going to Tree Hill", Will says.

"No Will, we can't change we still have to go and the medical stuff is easy, you can help me bandage my ribs when I need to, to can check the stitches and you can monitor the concussion, I will go for the scan and stay for like two hours but when your shift ends we are going to the apartment and making sure everything is ready".

"Honestly Bro you are so stubborn but I'll take the deal, you need the scan there might be some bleeding and or a fracture, the nurse is gonna take you and I'll see you in a room afterwards, for you stitches".

"Thanks Will, I'll see you there", Jay says as he wheeled away.

Will takes a minute to breath and thank heavens that his brother is OK, he then heads upstairs. He approaches a room, where he finds Brooke with a sketch pad and a woman reading a magazine, he knocks and enters.

"Hi I'm sorry to bother you but I need to talk to you Brooke", he says gently.

"Brooke who is this and why is he here?" the woman asks grumpily.

"Mother this is Dr Halstead I met him yesterday, Dr Halstead this is my Mother, Victoria" Brooke scowls a little on the name. She gets up and follows Will out of the room.

"I'm so sorry about her, I would say that she isn't always like that but it would be a lie", Brooke says.

"No I'm the one who is sorry for ditching you like that".

"Oh it's fine, I hope your brothers alright, he is isn't he?" Brooke asks.

"Yeah, he seems fine, I sent him for a scan, he is dead set on leaving tonight, we'll leaving after my shift, we have our flight to Tree Hill in the morning, he should be fine to make it".

"That's good, hopefully I won't have to be here much longer".

"Anyway, I only have about two hours left of my shift, and I wanted to to say goodbye, I enjoyed talking to you".

"Thank you for that, I enjoyed talking to you too, maybe we'll meet again in Tree Hill", Brooke says.

"Yeah I'll be staying with to help out some but I'm not sure for how long, but maybe you'll get back before I leave again".

"Yeah maybe, I can't wait to get home, I miss it and my friends so much".

Will smiles, they share a light hand shake and separate, he goes to find his brother. Jay's scans are clear, Will stitches up the stab wound to Jay's abdomen and they together for a few minutes. Will then has to get downstairs to finish his shift, he makes Jay promise not to move until he comes back.

Back in the ED, Will has about three patients two more serious than the third. He treats them accordingly in emergency medicine and sends them upstairs for further treatment. 2 hours after leaving him, Will clocks out of his shift and comes to find that Jay is asleep. But as soon as he enters Jay is awake with a smile, he just wants to leave. Will helps Jay sit up on the bed, he is a little dizzy at first but it goes away. Will helps Jay get dressed again, his ribs are screaming at him but he pushes through the pain. They sign discharge papers and are given the all clear to leave. Of course hospital policy is that all patient have to leave in a wheelchair, so Jay just put up much of a fight because he knows he won't win. On the way back to the apartment, Jay and Will discuss what is left to do before they leave in the morning, and come to the conclusion that they have to talk about it with their sister, so she knows what to tell the rental van drivers when they come.

Jay takes a pain killer, and the three siblings sit down to talk that evening, the brothers tell Abi about the stuff that needs to be put in the van, Jay tells her to remember that his whole bed and Maddie's has be loaded, all of the boxes in each of their two rooms is to be taken, just everything that belongs to either Jay or Maddie. He also reminds her to make sure all of Maddie's left over things i.e her clothes and toys, that she is keeping for her last few days in Chicago. One last thing on the list was for Abi to remember to pack Jay's tools, because he and Will have to put some furniture back together at the new house like Maddie's and his own bed, Abi has made a list so she knows exactly what to do.

That night, when Jay puts Maddie to bed he gives her lots of hugs and kisses, telling her who much he loves and is going to miss her. Maddie says she is going to miss him too but they agree that it will only be three and a half days until they are together again. Both are happy with that. Jay goes to bed in pain but with excitement for the next day and what it brings. During the night, Will wakes Jay up twice to check on his concussion.

In the morning, Jay and Will are up really early, they leave the apartment after giving hugs and thank yous to Abi, also after taking a pain killer, for his bruised ribs and sore abdomen, Will made sure to pack his first aid kit.

"Abs thanks again, for staying with Maddie and for bringing her out to Tree Hill in a couple of days, and to both of you for offering to stay for a while, it really means a lot", Jay tells Abigail and Will.

"Jay it's my pleasure honestly, you know I love you and my niece, I would do anything for you guys, plus it gives us some girl time, which I love", Abigail says.

"Maddie loves spending time with her Auntie Abi, she told me last night how excited she is to have a few days with you".

"Yeah, we'll have a lot of fun and we'll see you two on Saturday, now go and don't worry, we will be perfectly fine", Abi says pushing the two out the door with their bags.

"See ya Saturday Abs take good care of our niece", Will tells her cheekily.

"Ha ha very funny, you know I will", she says seriously. With that said, Jay and Will leave, Abi goes back to bed for a few hours because it is too early.

At the airport the brothers check in quickly, they only have a duffel bag each, so don't need to check them in. Security is relatively quiet which is good because Jay has a bit of a headache, he is glad when they get a seat beside the gate for the plane. Will checks on Jay's concussion like he did during the night and it is under control. The flight leaves at exactly half past six and is spent in silence nearly the whole time, they strike up a conversation on the tail end of the flight when they are almost in Tree Hill.

Again with no luggage to pick up, the brothers head out to the taxi rank, hoping in a taxi and heading to the store. In the taxi Jay calls Karen.

"Hi Karen".

"Hi Jay, did you make it into town OK?".

"Yeah we made it, on our way to the store to pick up the paint".

"Oh that's good, I'm glad you made it alright, everyone will be at the house for 10 am, their excited to meet you".

"Thank you again for asking everyone Karen, I don't know how to thank you for the help", Jay admits.

"Honestly Jay, there is no need to keep thanking me, it was my pleasure to ask them, and really I should probably apologise in advance, my family can be quite rowdy and nosy".

"Rowdy can be good sometimes, I could be actually be doing with a little chit chat, I had a rough last day on the job", Jay admits.

"Oh no what happened, if you don't mind my asking?".

"Yesterday was my last day and had to spend a couple of hours in the hospital", Jay says.

"Oh my goodness, are you OK?" Karen asks concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine...". Karen hear a snort and mumbling in the back ground. "Excuse the mumbling that's just my brother, he had to treat me, I'll tell you a little about it later, OK?". Jay asks.

"Oh no of course, I'm just glad to hear your alright, I'll see you at 10, I hope your ready".

"Yeah we'll see you there Karen, thanks again and we'll try to prepare ourselves", Jay laughs a little and groans.

"Yes, are you sure your OK?", Karen asks again worried.

"It just hurts a little to laugh, I'm fine really, we'll see you in a while". With that they hang up. Will gives Jay a pointed look. "What, it wasn't a lie, I'm fine", Jay tells him.

"Whatever you say little brother, I'll take another look when we get to the house", Will says.

"Thanks big brother your the best". Jay says solemnly.

When they get to the store, Jay asks the driver to wait for them and carefully climbs out of the car. They find what they need the paints, rollers and a dew plastic sheets. Jay got chose the pink for Maddie's room, for his own room, he chose like a sky blue, for the living room the colour is cream and for the spare room Will helped choose a different colour of cream since he and Abigail were both going to be sleeping in it. After paying for the utensils, the cashier helps the brothers to the taxi and they put everything in the butt. After thanking the person they get back in the taxi and headed to the new house. Pulling up outside, they notice 3 cars parked outside of it.

After paying the driver, both men get out, Jay a little slower and holding his ribs a little. They start pulling the stuff from the butt with the drivers help and walk them over to the door step. One last trip to the taxi and everything is out, the driver gets in and leaves. Jay and Will are standing outside looking up at the house.

"Good choice little brother, Maddie is gonna love it, it's beautiful", Will says pulling Jay in for a hug. But all of a sudden Jay winces and pulls back. Will knows what has happened. He pulls Jay over to the door and pushes him down to sit on the step. Opening his bag he pulls out the first aid kit. He lifts up Jay's shirt and sees blood coming through the bandage wrapped around his ribs covering his wound.

"OK, you have most definitely popped at least 1 stitch, I need to re-do it", Will says as he begins to unwrap the bandage. Jay's face scrunches a little in pain. "Don't worry I'll numb the area a little first", Will says. After removing the bandage, he pulls the gauze away, there's a good amount of blood. He gets a new gauze out and asks Jay who is now laying down to hold it on the wound. Will takes his jacket off and pulls on a pair of latex gloves. He prepares some Lidocaine in a syringe, slowly infecting some on either side of the injury. Putting away, Will brings out a surgical wipe to clean up the area so he see it better.

"Jay you've popped 3 of your stitches, so I need to replace them, OK", he tells his brother.

"Yeah but try to be quick, the cars are the people here to help us paint", Jay tells him. Will ignores it and decides to focus on the task of stitching his brother.

"Right i need to remove the broken stitches, you'll feel a tug when when they come out", Will sets to work removing them. Then he prepares the dissolvable stitches, getting to work nice and easy on the wound, after tying off the last suture, Will places a new gauze over it and it tapes in to place. Removing his gloves, he stands and moves to beside Jay to help him sit up. "Now I need to re- bandage those ribs of yours". Using the same ace bandage as before, Will wraps a bit more firmly around his little brothers ribs, also taping it place.

"Thanks for doing that big brother, your a great doctor", Jay says while Will takes his hand to gently pull him up.

"I am a great doctor and I've had lots of practice from working on you over the years, honestly you get hurt a lot", Will says jokingly.

"Hey, I do not, maybe sometimes but it's not my fault it's the stupid criminals or my old units fault", Jay says.

"Yeah, well lets hope your new unit is better than the one in Chicago, because I would really rather not have to answer the phone and find out you have been hurt again, but if it does you are a complete and utter jinx", Will says half serious and half jokingly.

"I hope so too, what do you say we finally get in there and you can see how amazing it is on the inside too", Jay asks.

"Yip lead the way, little brother, I wanna see where I'm gonna sleep".

"Well the third bedroom has a bed in it already, we either both sleep on the bed or the couch that's already in the living room folds out into a bed".

"We'll decide later just hurry up and open the door already you slow poke", Will whines.

"You are worse than my four year, have patience", Jay says slowly reaching down for his bag, he pulls out the key that the real estate agent sent him in the mail and opens the door. "Welcome to my new abode".

"Nice, I like it lets get the paint and stuff", Will says and they both head back out to bring the stuff inside. The Lidocaine is strong enough to numb is aching ribs a bit so he feels good now but knows it will eventually wear off.

After bringing the stuff in, Jay knows it isn't 10 am yet, so he and Will both change into something more suitable for painting a house which sweats. Will goes to start setting up the biggest room for painting. While jay goes outside, he goes to the first car, knowing that is it Karen's.

"Hi Karen thanks for coming, we're all set for painting, I wanted to start Maddie's new room first, it's a light pink that she chose so I know she is going to love the colour".

"Hi, yes we're all set everyone is here, I told them to stay in the cars, until you were ready", Karen says.

"Yeah thank you, I'm sorry you had to see that, my brother fixed for now so I'm all good".

"What was that exactly?" Karen asks.

"I'm sorry Karen but do you mind if we talk later I'm sure your family wants to know too, I'll tell you more later maybe while we wait the food to come?, Jay asks with sincerity.

"Yeah I understand and so will everyone else, we were just worried, I'll go get them and tell them that we will talk about it later", she tells him.

"Thank you, I promise I will explain later, I'll you have a minute and you can come in when your all ready, I'll leave the door open come right in you'll hear us talking".

"Thank you Jay, we'll be right in, again I apologise for what's to come".

"Seriously don't worry about it, for what it's worth I apologise in advance for my brother too". With that Jay heads inside to help Will get the room sorted.

 _I hope you like this chapter, it is a little shorter looking. The next chapter will be Jay and Will meeting everybody and the painting Will be happening!_


	4. Greetings and Painting

_This chapter is quite long!_

Chapter 4 - Greetings and Painting

Jay goes inside, leaving the door open as promised, he heads through the house and into the biggest room on the ground floor, where he finds Will trying to set out the big sheet to cover the carpet keeping from getting messy with any spills or splashes of paint.

"That's not working for ya is it big bro?", Jay asks standing in the doorway.

"No not really, a little help would be great lil bro, whenever your ready", Will says sarcastically.

"But I'm enjoying watching you try to do it on your own, it's entertaining me", Jay says jokingly.

"I know I put on a good show but please help it wont stay down and keeps curling up", Will says seriously.

"OK, since you asked nicely, I'll help, but first everyone saw us ut front, I told Karen I'd explain it to everyone later while we have food, so don't mention please, Karen's talking to everyone right now", Jay says.

"OK, I won't say anything until later when your ready to do to it, now help me", Will says. Jay starts to help him.

Meanwhile Outside

After Jay went inside, Karen took a deep breath and signalled for her family to come over, she moved closer to them too. Once everyone was standing in front of her, there was a long pause before ...

"OK, I wanna be the first to see that was really weird", Lucas says.

"Yeah, it was, what exactly was happening and why?" Nathan asks.

"Mama why was the man on laying down?" Lily asks innocently.

"I think he was hurt, the other man looked like a doctor", Jamie says strongly.

"OK, listen everybody I know you all have questions, what we saw was a little bit scary but's OK now", Karen says calmly.

"Sorry Karen, before we go any further which one was, is he one you were speaking to just now?" Peyton asks.

"Yes Peyton, Jay is the one I was just talking to, I don't want anyone judging him by what just happened. I don't know what happened just now".

"Karen, you know we would never judge, and we won't, we promise, right guys?, Haley asks.

"Yes" is the unanimous answer.

"But do you know anything, I'm a little worried from what we just witnessed", Haley says honestly with worry in her voice.

"All I know is that Yesterday wasn't a good day, he told me that it was his last day at his old job in Chicago...".

"Hey Chicago, that's where Aunt Brooke is right now, isn't it", Jamie asks in his innocent voice.

"Yes Baby, that's where Aunt Brooke is but we can talk about Aunt Brooke at home OK", Haley says receiving a nod from her son.

"Anyway he told on the phone that it was rough and he had to spend a couple of hours in the hospital, I heard a snort and mumbling in the background, he apologised and said that his brother had to treat him, so I guess he might be a doctor. Before hanging up the phone, I must have said something funny because he laughed but then I heard him groan, he was pain by the sound of it, he just said it hurts to laugh", Karen tells the group.

"I'm going out on a limb and saying that it has something to do with what happened earlier", Nathan says.

"Yes, I guess so too but Jay isn't ready to talk about it, so we have to give him his privacy with it, he did promise to share later. When we have something to eat, he is more than willing to answer some questions about it but until I need you to respect that", Karen says.

"OK, we won't ask until the right time, but can we please go in and meet him now, I must admit I'm excited to get to know him", Peyton says.

"Yeah, we want to get to now him and see if he can help us gang up on you wonderful laddies", Lucas and Nathan share.

"I really must say that I want to see what you have been talking about Karen, he said he was very polite, a little humorous and sounded like an amazing dad, I wanna see all of those sides to him, get to know him a little before we invite him over at the weekend", Haley says.

"Grandma Karen, I wanna meet him too, he seems cool, can we go in now", Jamie says seemingly excited.

"Alright come on, he left the door open for us", Karen says bending down to pick up Lily. They all started toward the house together with Karen leading the way. Walking in a line everyone enters the house quietly and looks around the room, Lucas is the last one in so he shuts the door behind him. They hear voices.

"So lil bro, you chose a good house, pretty much neighbour to the beach which Maddie will love by the way, but you haven't told me anything about your new work except that the station building is nice, so tell me what you thought of your team".

"I chose this house pretty much because I knew Maddie will love the beach, we've only taken her to a beach once in her life and she loved it so I wanted her to be able to experience it a lot more than before. The station building is old and nice, it looks beautiful, I'll show you before and you go back to Chicago. And lastly, I thought my new team seemed nice enough, the boss is Hank Voight, and the others are Adam Ruzek, Alvin Olinsky, Antonio Dawson, Kevin Attwater and Kim Burgess. I only met them briefly when I was here, we never talked or anything, so I'm kind of going in blind", the second voice admits.

"OK, well I hope that your new partner is one of the men, I wouldn't really trust a woman to have your back" kind of jokingly voiced. The woman in the group are a little angry hearing this.

"No Will you do not get to say that, you can't judge whether a woman can have my back on the job or off of it, I mean come on woman are just as bad ass as us men, I'm not going to judge Kim Burgess until I see for myself how she works, but to be honest I heard this unit is one of the best, everyone is like me, there not from Tree Hill but all over the place. And Hank Voight apparently only has good police in his unit, so if that's true everybody in the unit must be excellent at their jobs, I would be honoured to work with any of them especially Kim, she seemed really nice but tough at the same time. So I'll get back to you on that", Jay says. All three woman are smiling at that.

"Jay I didn't mean anything by it, I was only joking, I know Woman can do anything. I mean think about Natalie, she is a stand up Doctor, the only female one in my field. The ED is better for having her working in it and so am I, she's amazing and is one of the best, better than most of the guys. I'm not sexist I was really just joking with you because you've had no luck in the partner department so far. I mean look at yesterday, your so called partner wasn't there for you, he didn't even come in the ambulance with you", Will says. Karen decides to cut it off there, it's rude to listen in on the conversation.

"JAY WE'RE HERE!" she shouts.

Jay pokes his head out and sees a group of people and he comes into the living room slowly. "Hi guys, thank you so much for coming to lend a hand, it was gonna be tough getting the work done with just the two us, I'm Jay", he says giving a little wave.

"Well I think everybody should introduce herself just really quick, so Jay knows everyone's names", Karen says

"Hi I'm Lucas, it's nice to meet you", Lucas says shaking the Jay's hand.

"Hi Lucas, you too".

"I'm Peyton, Lucas's wife and this is our daughter, Sawyer", the blonde steps forward.

"Hi Peyton and Sawyer, it's to meet you", Jay says smiling at the young girl in Peyton's arms.

"Hi mista", little Sawyer says quietly.

"You can call me Jay sweetie, do you my daughter has that exact same t-shirt as you, she loves pink, it's favourite colour and we're about paint her new room that colour, do you wanna maybe me out with that", Jay says gently with a smile.

"Oh yes please Jay, pinks my fave colour too, and my rooms pink too", Sawyer says excitedly bouncing up and down a little in her moms arms.

"Wow what a coincidence, I bet your gonna be a really good helper aren't you", Jay asks animatedly.

"Yes, I'm gonna paint so good, and I'll try not to be messy, I promise", Sawyer says.

"Aw sweetie don't worry about being messy, can I show you something really quick?", Jays the little girl.

Sawyer sticks her arms and nods, "Is it OK, if I take her just over there", Jay asks the girls Mom.

"Yeah of course", Peyton says handing her daughter to the man.

Jay walks over to the bedroom door with the girl in his arms, "You see that big sheet on the floor", he asks the girl receiving a nod. "Well that sheet is there to protect the carpet from getting dirty and I'm guessing that your mommy doesn't mind if you get these clothes dirty, so that means that you can make as much mess as you want to, that tub over there is the colour that we're painting this room it's pink and I really don't mind if we get messy as long as we have some fun, do you think we can do that and get the walls painted?" he explains and asks the young girl still in his arms.

"Yeah, we can do it there's lots of us to help", Sawyer says.

"Yeah we can do it and everyone is very nice for offering to help", Jay says. Lets go back so I can learn everyone's names shall we.

"But who is that man in the room", Sawyer asks.

"Oh that goofball is my big brother, Will, she we ask him to come meet everyone too", Jay asks the girl.

"Yes, he should come too", Sawyer says.

"Alright, Will come on through we have people to meet", Jay says. Will comes out too.

"Hi there what's your name?, Will asks.

"Hi, I'm Sawyer and I'm going to help paint the pink room", Sawyer says with a wide smile.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Sawyer, I'm Will", he says.

"I already now your name silly, Jay told me" she laughs. The three make their way to join the group. Jay hands a still giggling Sawyer back to her Mom.

"Sawyer wanted to invite this guy. This is Will, he's my brother and is the other set of hands for moving in" Jay tells the group.

"Hi everybody, thanks for the help today we really need it" Will says.

"We already started the introductions this is Lucas, his wife, Peyton and Sawyer is there daughter, but that's as far as I got so far" Jay admits.

"Hi I'm Nathan and it's nice to me both", Nathan steps forward shaking their hands. In return they say you too.

"And I'm Haley, his wife, it's a pleasure to meet you guys", she says shaking their hands and again getting a you too from both men.

Jay is caught off guard when the young boy standing beside his Mom jumps up at him, his fast reflexes are intact and he is able to catch the boy, but with pain in his abdomen.

"I'm sorry, are you OK, did he hurt you, I can take him back?" Haley immediately asks with worry.

"No no, I'm good really, it was just a surprise that's all he's fine honestly", Jay says pushing through his pain not wanting the boy to feel bad.

"OK if your sure", Haley says stepping back to stand beside her husband.

"So little man, you must be the mysterious Jamie, am I right?" Jay asks.

"How do you know my name, I didn't tell you yet", Jamie gasps.

"Well I would say it was a secret but really I know your Grandma Karen and she told me about you, I know that your the same age as my little girl, Maddie and you might become friends".Jay tells him carefully.

"Oh right that makes sense, I am four and I got to day care. When is Maddie coming, I really want to meet her?" Jamie asks.

"Maddie will be here on Saturday, I wanted to get the house ready for her coming, my sister is bringing her and we're going to maybe watch a movie together to get settled in. But we really need some help to get the house ready for Maddie coming, do you think you'd be able to help us paint", Jay asks the boy.

"Yes, I love to paint but I don't really like pink", Jamie says with a pout.

"Can I tell you something?" Jay asks the boy and after receiving a nod. "I don't really like Pink either, but you what, after we paint Maddie's room pink, I'm going to need some help painting my room too, and it's my favourite colour, do you know what colour it is?", at a shake of the head, "It's blue".

"No way, that's my favourite colour too, I'm gonna help you paint your room", Jamie says.

"Do you mind helping to paint some pink too, it shouldn't take too long because there are a lot of us. Then we can move on to the blue and after we finish later on, we are going to order some dinner on me as a thank you to everybody for helping me to paint, what do you think?" Jay asks the boy.

"I think that sounds good, we're nearly ready to get started but I think I missed someone here, I don't a name yet", Jay says placing Jamie down on the floor gently. Then there was a voice.

"Me, you don't know my name yet", Jay turns to the voice.

"Oh I don't think we've yet but I may know your already, let's see is it... Lola?"

"No!"

"Is it Layla?"

"No!"

"No! then what is it, I don't think I know it after all", Jay says with a smile.

"It's Lily silly".

"Oh Lily! I was gonna say that next, Lily's a very pretty name", Jay says.

"Thank you", Lily says sticking her arms out towards Jay.

"Would you like a cuddle too?" he asks, at another head nod. "it is OK, Karen?".

"Of course Jay", Karen says. Handing her daughter over gently.

Jay takes Lily in his arms and they share a warm hug. "Wow those were the first hugs I've had in Tree Hill and they were the best, I might need another one soon though but these ones should last a while, at least until next week right Will?" Jay asks his Brother.

"That's right bro, now that we know everyone everyone's names what you do you all say we start on painting and Jay can buy us dinner sooner rather than later after we finish, because I for one love pizza and I can eat a lot of it, does anyone else like pizza?" Will animatedly asks.

"Me" say all three children at once.

"Well it's settled then we'll have pizza after all of our hard work, let's get started". Jamie takes Will's hand and the children go with him to start putting the paint.

"Guys, before we start thank you doesn't feel like enough of an acknowledgement for you offering me your help, I mean you don't even know me but your going to help paint a whole house. Thank you doesn't even cover how thankful I am for all of you at this moment, I just wanted you to know", Jay says.

"Jay's our pleasure to help you, it's a town that we all stick together, not everyone is as nice but there is a big enough group of people that are happy help with anything. it's just what we do, and you offered a lot to. You were just so sweet to all three of our children, you made Jamie smile, he wasn't too happy about having to paint pink but you mentioned the blue at the right time", Haley says.

"And you made Sawyer happy, she is usually very reserved when meeting new people you just smiled at her and she opened up to you and top it off she went to you willingly, she stuck out her arms for you to carry her, she usually only does that with family" Peyton tells Jay.

"They seem great and can't wait to get to know everyone better", Jay says.

"We all feel the same Jay", Karen says.

"and we have an idea but we'll talk later or tomorrow after we learn more about each other and your daughter" Haley finishes for Karen.

"OK I'd like that, we have today while painting. Tomorrow and Friday Will and I will be emptying the moving truck and getting everything set up around the house but yeah we would love to get to know you all better", Jay says.

"Jay, you don't just have us today, we're all here for the three days to help you with anything you need, Lucas and I are good with tools, you probably have things that need put together so we can help with that", Nathan says.

"And not to be pushy but Karen, Peyton and I can help with putting fresh sheet on the beds, and arranging the rooms with the objects or drawers, photo's, putting clothes away or anything like that. We are here to help you so put us to work", Haley says.

"Are you sure you don't have other things to do because I totally understand, and it's your days off, you should be relaxing", Jay says.

"We are more than sure, plus because there are more of us, we should get everything done in no time. You could have Friday free to relax and we can hang out", Lucas says.

"You guys are amazing, and I think after all of this we will be friends, I would love to hang out on Friday, I'll have a few last minutes things to do but after or even before that I'm all yours", Jay says.

The rest of the grown ups then go into the room to start the painting, they place tape around the sides of the window so they don't get paint on the wood. Peyton is placed on Lucas's shoulders, Haley is on Nathan's shoulders and both woman work their way along the tops of the walls to a certain level that is good for the rollers, the kids have been tasked with the bottoms of the walls. Jay and Karen are using rollers to fill in the biggest parts of the walls. Because Karen is shorter, she is doing above the kids work a little more than half way and Jay is doing the tops to where Haley and Peyton have. They work they way through each wall and are done not long later. They leave the rollers in case the walls next an extra coat and make their way into the living room,

"OK, so I this morning at the store, I bought some Capri-suns for the kids and either fizzy juice or beers for the adults, or there's water of course it's completely up to you what you have they are all in the fridge", Jay says before disappearing into the kitchen and coming back with three of the juices for the kids and handing one to each of them.

"Everybody help yourselves, I'm just gonna get some air before we start the next room", Jay says and heads out the back door not looking back or anything.

"I'm sorry, we won't be long, he just needs his dosage, he hasn't had one since before the flight this morning", Will says, not getting into any information, knowing he's not supposed to yet. Knowing his brother is in pain, he goes into his bag and pulls out a prescription bottle, that they picked up for Jay on the way home from the hospital yesterday. He also grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and follows Jay out the back door. He finds his brother staring out at the water, holding his ribs.

"Here lil brother, take these, they'll help, I promise", he tells his brother, holding out the pills and water. Jay takes him and swallows with the water.

"Thanks, that Lidocaine was good stuff, I was numb for ages only felt a little pain sometimes".

"When Jamie jumped on you?"Will asks already knowing the answer.

"Yeah but it wasn't his fault, they're three great kids and the parents are nice too, they're not just helping today Will they are giving up tomorrow too to come back and help with the moving van, it's honestly so nice of them, I don't know how to thank them for it, but they say that we should get everything done by tomorrow night they each are going to help with certain things, the guys with the heavy furniture and putting the beds back together also the draws if the movers have to dismantle them. the woman are gonna help with arranging with the furniture and making the beds stuff like that. I don't want the kids to get bored so I think I'm gonna get them involved in putting away Maddie's toys. Maybe another little surprise and because everything should be done by Friday they want us to hung out with them so we can get to know each other even better", Jay says surmising his ideas.

"Wow that's really nice of them and for the record I like them a lot, we should hang out with them on Friday, like a little break before Abi and Maddie come in on Saturday", Will says.

"Yeah I like them too, I think we're all going to become good friends and I have a feeling that Maddie will like them too especially Jamie, Lily and Sawyer. Anyway lets get back inside, the painkillers are working", Jay says.

"I think Maddie is going to love everything about this place, and yeah lets go".

Jay and Will head back inside and are greeted with smiles, Jay returns a small one back to the group before grabbing another plastic sheet and heading into the second bedroom.

"We're are good new, just going to get the second room ready now, we've good more brushes and rolls so there's nothing to worry about". Will says while placing the bottle back in his bag. He then joins Jay. They set the sheet down and open the paint, stirring the paint thoroughly and then pouring some into the different utensils so everyone has some to work with. Jay then stands at the door.

"Hey Jamie do you wanna be the first to see the blue, that I picked out for my room", he sticks his head and asks.

"Yes please Jay, why is blue your favourite blue, oh I love this colour of blue it's lighter but I love it to", Jamie says and asks.

"Well this colour my favourite, it's called sky blue, because it's the same colour as the sky, it's been my favourite since I was about your age, it was my Moms favourite and I guess she passed it over to me too. Why is blue your favourite colour?", Jay explains and asks the boy.

"I love blue because that's the colour of the Ravens. My daddy and Uncle Lucas played in the Tree Hill Ravens it was their High School Team. Daddy got them all the way to the internationals. He is so good at Basketball and I wanna play in the Raven's too when I'm old enough", Jamie tells Jay. The two are painting together and talking. After a while Jay goes back to using the roller at the top where he starts talking to Nathan who doesn't have Haley on his shoulders any more.

"So tell me a bit about your self Jay", Nathan asks.

"Um well there's not really much to tell but I grew in Chicago with my siblings, Will who is the oldest and my little sister Abigail, it's been just since we quite young. I played a little bit of basketball early on in High School but I had to drop it for family reasons, my grades were average. Last day of High School went to a party, I went with my best friend Allie, we got a little drunk and kind of had a one night stand, we were never meant to be, so went our separate ways. After High School, I joined the police academy, Nice months later, I received a phone call from the hospital, saying I needed to come right away. That same day, I met my baby girl, Allie died after giving birth. It was hard but I had my brother and sister, I named my daughter Madeline Anne Halstead, it was hard and I'm glad I had my siblings, Maddie adores her Aunt and Uncle, their amazing with her". Jay says.

"And you finished at the academy?", Nathan asks.

"Yeah I graduated when Maddie was two, was a beat cop on the streets for a year and then moved to Detective work in the Gangs unit, it was OK. I had been there for nearly a year but I was really missing out on time with my daughter, I want to change that, so started looking for jobs online and that's where I saw this station needed a new team member, so I applied, long story cut short, I got the job and here I am".

"That's really admirable, Jay. I hope your new job is a good fit for you, we already like you", Nathan says.

"Thanks, I just want to spend more time with my little girl, I feel like she's growing up way to fast. And for what it's worth I like you guys too. So anyway enough about me, tell me about you", Jay says wanting the questions off of him for a while.

"OK, you sure your ready for this it can be a lot to take in?" he asks.

"I'm ready".

"So to start this, I have to start from the beginning. First you should know my Father is and always has been a jerk, in High School he dated Karen but was also sneaking around my Mother, Deb. So when High School, he still kind of that, Karen became pregnant with Lucas, he didn't want anything to do with him, he then went to Deb and two months later, she became pregnant with me, but instead and leave again, he married her. Obviously, Lucas was born first, Dan didn't even acknowledge he was born, he really was a jackass. Anyway fast forwarding, he was a horrible father and person and that made me kind of a horrible person too. Lucas and I never really knew each when we were younger, growing up we kind of hated each other but that all changed in High School. He wanted to join my basketball team the ravens, I didn't want that. Long story short, we had a one on one and he beat me, so he joined, there was a lot of rivalry. But because of my brother, I met an amazing girl, she was his childhood best friend, so was loyal to him, but she became my tutor and there was something there. Haley made me work for first for her friendship and then everything else. Because of Haley, I'm a better man today", Nathan says the last part lovingly.

"Aw Hun, you just needed to be shown the way to be better and now your the best husband to me and father to Jamie", Haley tells Nathan with a kiss. "I wanna say the last bits of the story please, we can still paint", she begs.

"OK, you can tell the last of the story", Nathan tells her.

"Thank you, so we fell deeply in love in School, we made a decision and got married on the beach at 17, it was the best wedding ever, just the two of us and the person marrying us, it was bliss. Then in senior year, I fell pregnant, Nathan was the best, he would go out at all hours to pick me up whatever I was craving at the time, it was pretty such anything that I wanted and he would go out of his way to get it. I couldn't ask for a better husband. But that's not even the best part, on Graduation day, I was the Valedictorian so had to give a speech. Half way through I announced that I would have to leave because I was in a lot of pain, we rushed to hospital, I had a little bleeding, and they warned me that I would have to stay bedridden for the last 3 months of my pregnancy, or else our baby would be born to early. So I did as I was told and stayed in bed most of time, the 3 months passed so slowly and then on my due date nothing happened. The baby apparently wasn't ready to come out yet, a week and half went by, and still no baby, the doctor decided to induce labour and that same night, Jamie was born, with a loud piercing scream, kicking and flailing his little arms, he wasn't too happy about coming out of Moms tummy", Haley and Nathan laugh together.

"Wow that's a story, thank you for sharing it with me" Jay says sincerely touched to have been told. Jay's room doesn't take too long because it is smaller than Maddie's. So leaving the paint to dry, the group moves quickly along to the next room, everyone has their jobs and are great at doing them. The kids focus on lowest parts, Karen bottom middle, Jay and Will are on the top middle, again on their husbands shoulders Haley and Peyton are on the tops of the walls. This room is the cream that Will picked up. By the time they are done with this room, the kids have fallen asleep on the bed.

They exit the room, leaving the children to sleep.

 _Continues!_


	5. Conversations

Chapter 5 - Conversations

The group are standing around in the Kitchen having a little stretch

"OK why doesn't everybody take a break, Will and I are going to start the living room, it's the last room and then we can tidy and get washed up. We can't really eat inside with the paint drying, so I was thinking, we could maybe we eat outside", Jay says.

"That's a great idea, kind of like a picnic but with pizza", Karen says.

"Yeah is everyone OK with that? If not we could totally go somewhere else", Jay says.

"Jay, you don't have to be nervous we all love that idea, and the kids will like it too, can take out some blankets and relax for a while, so why don't we come and help in the living room, that way we can order the pizza and relax sooner", Peyton says to the obviously nervous man.

"OK as long as everyone is alright with that idea and to come help again", Jay says still with uncertainty in his voice.

"Of course we are let's go, we'll leave the kids to sleep and come get them later", Nathan says.

So everybody once again gets set in their positions again with cream colour for painting the walls. Because they have already done three rooms, they are like pros at it and get the room done in no time. After cleaning up some, they wash their hands.

"So I'm gonna go and get Sawyer changed into some clothes". Peyton announcing.

"Peyton I'm sorry about that, I'm the one that told her it was OK to get messy, I didn't mean to make more work for you", Jay says in apology.

"Jay don't apologise, I put her older clothes for exactly that purpose, honestly don't worry about it, all I care about is that my daughter had fun today and you were amazing with her, with all of the kids", Peyton says.

"Yeah, we can't thank you enough today was fun, you really were good with the kids, Jamie is a little reserved around new people, but he jumped on you for a hug, he only ever does that with Aunt, he gives others hugs but he is only ever that excited with his Aunt who is also his Godmother, we are grateful to you for being so good with them", Haley says.

"I just want to add that Lily clung to me, when we first came in, then going around the room you interacted with each person especially Sawyer and Jamie, Lily was giggling when you thought you had missed someone out, playfully guessing her name, I've never heard my little girl giggle like that before, she was so happy, when you held her and she gave you a huge hug, she doesn't do that with anyone but me", Karen says pulling Jay into a hug and tearing up a little bit.

"Guys that's nothing your kids are amazing, it was pleasure to welcome them properly, my daughter can be shy to like I explained to Karen but I know she's going to Jamie, Lily and Sawyer, they'll become friends I think. I also have a feeling that when you guys meet her, your do the same thing, your welcome her with open arms like you do for me and to be honest we need that in our life, in Chicago it was just the 2 of us and my siblings. I've never really had friends or anything, everyone that I met was single and had no kids they didn't want to be around someone with a kid" Jay says.

"Honestly Jay we are just so thankful for you, and we not that kind of people, we have kids too and we have to stick together, that includes you now, and we have friends that don't have any kids but would love to be friends with you too. My best friend loves all of our children, children in general, she designs children's clothes, and I have a feeling that you'll get along great, she's out of town right now but when she comes back we'll introduce you", Peyton says.

"Yeah Jay, we all love each others children, we are all aunts and uncles to each of them. And I know for a fact that we are all going to do our best to welcome Maddie and make her feel comfortable. We are all friends now and are hear to help and support each other". Haley says.

"Thanks guys I can't wait to get to know you all more and hang out with you more". Jay says.

"Alright enough with the sappy, I'm going to go and change Sawyer, someone order the pizza, I'm starved and the kids are going to be too", Peyton says leaving the room.

"OK folks Peyton is the boss that this moment this lets do what she says, I will call and order the pizza, how does cheese and Pepperoni sound?", Lucas says.

"You know Peyton's right c'mon lets finish tidying up, so we can sit outside enjoying each other's company and the yummy pizza Lucas is ordering right now", Nathan says.

Everyone gets back to tidying up, while Peyton wakes up the kids and changes Sawyers clothes.

"Mommy I really like Jay", Sawyer says happily.

"I do to honey, what you guys think", Peyton asks the two other kids.

"I like Jay a lot, and his his favourite colour blue just like me", Jamie says excited.

"Jay is strong and he gave me a big hug", Lily says with a smile. The two other kids agree nodding their heads.

After that Peyton leads the way out of the room, where everything is now tidy. The other adults are standing talking.

"Wow it's nice and tidy now, is the painting all finished now", Jamie asks standing beside his Dad.

"It sure is buddy, we are officially done painting", Nathan tells his son.

Sawyer walks over to Jay holding her arms up to him. He picks her up slowly hiding his pain. "Hey sleepyhead, how'd you sleep", he asks holding on to her.

"I sleeped good, Jay", Sawyer says with a yawn cuddling into him laying her little head on his shoulder.

"Good, I'm glad you worked hard and did a great a job, thank you for your help, I could've have done it if it weren't for your family helping me and Will", Jay tells her.

"It was a lot of fun but now I'm hungry", Sawyer says.

"Yeah we're hungry too", Jamie and Lily say together.

"Well your Moms, Dads and I had an idea, what do you think about eating outside, like a picnic but with pizza instead?", Jay ask them.

"Really", they all ask with excitement laced voices.

"Uh huh now I need some little helpers to reach the blankets on the top shelf, and to carry them outside do you know anyone that can help me", he questions.

"I can help you them", Jamie offers.

"Yeah and we can carry them for you, right Soy?" Lily asks.

"Right Lils, we are big and strong", Sawyer states.

"Oh thank goodness for you guys, I was worried there for a second", Jay pretends, he gently puts Sawyer on the floor again. "So should we go find those blankets, Jamie, I think the previously owner kept them in the hall closet, lets go see".

"Yeah let's go", Jamie says going to follow Jay.

"Hey Brother be careful, remember earlier we don't want a repeat", Will says. Jay rolls his eyes and keeps walking Jamie.

"I'LL BE CAREFUL, WILL", is shouted from the hallway. Will just shakes his head.

Jay opens up the cupboard and points to the top shelf where the blanks are, "There they are, you ready?" Jay asks Jamie.

"I'm ready", Jamie responds as Jay lifts him and holds him up to the top shelf. His ribs are hurting him, but pushes through so as to drop the young boy. Jamie grabs a bunch and drops them to the floor, then another until there are none left up there.

"Alright Jamie good job", Jay high fives the boy. "OK girls we need your strong arms now", Jay calls and Sawyer come quickly. Jay gives some blankets to each child and the follows them outside. Where they lay the blankets on the grass. The four then go inside, the kids follow Jay to the kitchen where he gets them each a drink, he pulls a bottle of water for himself.

"We're all set up so grab a drink and join us when your ready", Jay announces to everyone before following the kids back outside.

Everyone did just that, they grab drinks and head outside too, Will also grabs the paper plates that they bought that morning. Outside on the blankets everyone sits in circle. The conversation is easy for a while and then the pizza delivery guy gets there. Jay goes to get up to pay the guy.

"No you are not getting up again for a while, I don't wanna have to repair you again, so I'll get it, gimme your wallet", Will says holding his hand out. His brother rolls is eyes.

"Come on Will, I'm not an invalid", Jay mumbles quieter.

"No but your not superman either, so just hand over the wallet, we're all starving", Will states back.

"Fine, here", Jay states handing his wallet to his brother. After he takes a deep breath but flinches and puts a hand over his aching ribs.

"It's fine, try not to breath heavily, it'll get better just give it a few days", Will says finally getting up. Jay opens his water and takes a long drink trying not think about it too much.

"OK so we have pizza, everybody dig in", Will says setting the boxes in the middle so everyone can reach them. He passes his brother a slice of each, so he doesn't have to move and hurt himself more. Everyone is engrossed in eating their pizza that nothing really gets said, except for mumbles of how good it is mostly from the kids. The pizza disappears quite quickly, but the atmosphere is a good one with everybody enjoying their drinks and the company.

"Um now that the pizza is gone, I know that you all must have questions, and I'm gonna try my best to answer them as honestly as I can", Jay says. "So if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask".

"OK, will you tell us what happened yesterday?", Karen asks kindly.

"Of course, so it was my last two days on the job and I just really wanted that time to be peaceful but I'm not that luck, on Monday a case came, we worked the whole day gathering evidence, questioning witnesses and running leads. By that night we had a prime suspect in mind, it was getting late so we all got send home. On Tuesday morning, we chased down that suspect but it wasn't him, he just in the wrong place at the time. So we went over everything again, we worked through lunch and finally we found the right person. We headed out to bring the suspect in. He started running and I was the fastest, so the team left me to run after him while they took their time..."

"Wait so you chased after him all on your own?" Nathan asks.

"Yeah but I didn't end so well, I caught be to him, we had it out a little, he got a few hits in and pulled a knife, he put it in my abdomen, knocked me in to a wall, I was a little winded, but he went in for a final kick, I saw my so called partner handcuffing the guy and then I passed, I hit my head on the wall so that's why that happened. Anyway the next thing I remember was waking up in an ambulance, I was brought to my brother's work, and he was his usual self fussing about it". Jay says.

"What injuries did you have", Karen now asks.

"Just a little bruise and a couple stitches", Jay says.

"Um no, don't under sell, he has some bruised ribs, eight stitches and a serious concussion, we kept him at the hospital for hours to make sure there were no complications with the knife wound or his concussion", Will says receiving a little glare from his brother.

"That's rough man, so what happened earlier?, Lucas now asks.

"Um just small complication", Jay mumbles.

"OK, so what that really means is the hard worker here, tore his stitches and has probably aggravated his ribs more than they are. Earlier there was blood on his t shirt coming from the wound. So I unwrapped the bandage from his ribs and took the gauze away, cleaned it, numbed up the area, then stitched it back up again, replaced the gauze taped it". Will says.

"He then helped me up and re-bandaged my ribs", Jay finishes for his brother. "Are you done with your play by play of the event", he sarcastically asks Will, who smirks and nods his head.

"Jay I'm sorry your hurt", Jamie says getting a little upset.

"Hey it's OK, Jamie, I'm gonna fine really, come here", Jay says, the young boy quickly moves into Jay's lap and they share a sweet hug.

"H-have you b-been hurt before", Jamie asks with a slight stutter. Jay turns to his brother. Will communicates his thoughts without speaking and Jay understands .

"Listen buddy, I'm not going to lie to you, I'm always honest with Maddie so I'm going to be honest with you too". After receiving a nod from Jamie, Jay continues, "So I have been hurt before Yesterday but I really am OK, every time, something has happened Will has been there for me, he really is a great Doctor and Brother. My sister Abigail has helped take care of us too".

"I'm g-glad your OK, but what about your new job?" Jamie asks after calming down.

"What about it buddy?" Jay asks gently.

"Will you get hurt again at your new job", Jamie lefts out after a deep breath. But before he can answer, there's running.

"Nooooo", Lily says running to Jay and jumping into his arms, bawling her eyes out. Jay just holds her for a few minutes, it feels good hugging Lily, but it makes him miss his own daughter even more than normal.

"Sweetie do you want to come inside with me for a minute"", Jay asks while rubbing Lily's back gently. The little girl nods into his neck, he turns his attention to the girls mother. "is that OK with you, I promise we will be quick, just getting a tissue and cleaned up a bit", he asks nervously.

"Of course Jay, I trust you", Karen says. Jay blushes and places his attention on the girl in his arms.

"You ready, honey", he asks gently. After receiving another small nod in the neck, he stands up with the girl still clinging to him and brings her inside.

When there is no sign of his Brother, Will turns back to the group and says "Karen thank you for saying that, he won't say it now but it really means a lot to him to have your trust".

"Not a problem, it's really weird, I wouldn't have done that with anyone else, but it all came down to Lily. My Baby girl, a lot of the time doesn't do well with strangers, and she mostly does not hug people she just met but your brother is the person that got her to do that. He seemed to know just what to say to make her feel comfortable around him", Karen points out.

"Yeah Jay's kind of always been like that, he's the middle child but has always taken on the roll of being our big brother. I really wasn't big brother material, Jay stepped up for both us from a certain age, he was really all we had. He was the best, always knew how to make us feel better and or comfort us, it's just like second nature to him. My brother really is the best dad to my niece, they really are each other's whole world. I'm not sure if you know this or not but the whole reason for moving in the first place was Maddie. Back in Chicago Jay had really long work hours, his team were not up to standard at all, and because of that Jay would be the one to pretty much always get injured in some way or another. Anyway, even with crazy long hours and a lot of exhaustion including injuries, Jay always made time for Maddie, on his rare days off, he would spend the whole day with her doing what she wanted for the entire day. He never once complained about anything. My brother wants for Maddie to have more than just occasional time with her dad, he wants to be the kind of dad that we didn't have growing up. So he looked for a new job and requested the days and hours he wants to work all so he could spend more time with his little girl". Will says.

"Jay seems like a great father, I can't wait to see him with his daughter and to meet her, she sounds like a special little girl" Karen says.

"Oh, Maddie is honestly a sweet, kind and loving little girl, she's so smart and caring, I can't really take any credit in that, Jay is honestly the reason that she is and has all of those great qualities, our sister has the same qualities and that is all pretty much due to Jay too, he pretty much raised her since she was Maddie's age", Will tells the group.

"I hope Maddie likes us", Sawyer says quietly from her Moms arms.

"I am sure Maddie is going to love you all", Will says.

"We just have to be really nice to Maddie when she gets here", Karen tells her daughter.

"When is she coming here again?", Jamie asks.

"Abigail and Maddie are flying in on Saturday", Will tells Jamie.

"Oh yay, Mommy that's the day before the pool party!" Jamie tells his Mom.

"Jamie remember we don't know about that yet, we need to ask first", Haley tells Jamie.

"Will, Mom and Dad said we could have a pool party to Welcome Jay and Maddie to town, do you think they will come?", Jamie asks with a hint of excitement.

"Well, I know that Maddie loves to go swimming, Jay might not be able to go in the water but they would probably love to go, you have to ask him when he comes back", Will tells Jamie.

 **Meanwhile ...**

After standing up, Jay carries Lily inside and heads straight for the bathroom, where he gently sits the girl on the counter.

"Hey Lily, can you tell me why your so upset sweetie", Jay gently asks while wiping some tears away from her eyes.

"I d-don't want y-you to g-get hurt a-again", Lily says sniffling.

"Aw sweetie sometimes I can't help getting hurt, I didn't really have a good partner to help keep me safe, but you know what?" he asks.

"W-what?", Lily asks.

"I'm starting my new job here in Tree Hill on Monday, I'm getting an all new team and partner, I really think they are going to be a good team and hopefully they can help me not to get hurt anymore. But their are some bad people out there, it can be dangerous and I could get a little hurt but I'll be OK, I promise. I have to come every night to Maddie, so she won't be alone" Jay tells her.

"What about her Mommy?" Lily asks.

"Well sweetie, Maddie's Mommy is in heaven right now, she died when Maddie was just a tiny little baby", Jay tells her.

"My Daddy died when I was still in Mommy's tummy, he's in heaven now too", Lily says sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that sweetie, but your daddy is always watching over you and you want to know a secret?" he asks.

"Yes please", Lily says.

"I always tell Maddie that her mommy is always with her, your daddy is always with you too", he says.

"Really? Where is he?" Lily asks.

"Well, he's right here" Jay's pointing to the left of Lily's chest. "He is right there in your heart. Maddie's mommy is in her heart and my mommy is in my heart too", Jay says.

"What happened to your mommy?" Lily asks innocently.

"My mommy was very sick, and she died when I was little, but she has always been right here with me, everyday", Jay says with his hand over his heart.

"Oh, I'm glad they are in our hearts", Lily says.

"I am too, now what do you say we wipe our tears away, wash our faces and we can go back outside?" Jay asks.

"Yeah our faces are all wet", Lily says. Jay helps Lily wash her face and then she helps him wash his face. They dry off.

"There that's better, now your face is pretty again", Jay says while tickling Lily, who squeals and laughs.

"Jay can I have another capwi -sun please?", Lily asks mispronouncing two of her words.

"Sure sweet pea, why don't we get a bag and bring everyone else another drink too" he says.

"Yes, lets go I can carry it", Jay picks her up and carries her through to the kitchen setting her down on another counter. He picks up one of the empty bags and hands it to her.

"Now what do we need?", he asks.

"We need three capwi-suns and..." Lily trails off counting everyone on her fingers. "six others", she says.

"Wow Lily, your really good at counting", Jay says while pulling out all the drinks, he places them in the bag. "Now I don't what do you recommend that I have to drink?", he asks.

"You should have a capwi-sun Jay, they are so delicious", Lily says with a big smile.

"Oh, I don't think I can say no to that, but I hope it really is delicious", Jay says.

"It is the best, you will love it" Lily declares.

"OK, then Lily but I'm holding you too it Missy", he jokes.

"Yes sir, now lets go, everybody is waiting for us", she says seriously. Jay laughs and picks the girl up again in his arms, in her arms is the bag.

They move back outside, Lily is giggling because Jay is carrying her like she is flying. He can tell that the previous group conversation was serious from some of the looks he is getting. he pushes through and sits back down with Lily.

"Now sweet pea, do you want to give everyone their drinks", Jay asks.

"Yes please", Lily says standing up leaving the bag on the ground.

"It was your idea after all", Jay tells her. He goes into the bag and pulls out two of the cans handing them to the girl. the walks over the blankets.

"Here you go Mommy ", she says while handing the drink to her Mom. "Here you go Will", she hands the can to him.

"Thank you sweetie", Karen responds.

"That's sweet, thank you Lily", Will says. Jay hands her another two cans.

"Here you go Uncle Nathan and Aunt Haley", she hands them a drink. Back again to Jay, for more.

"Here big bro and sissy Peyton", she hands them over.

"Thank you lil sis", Lucas and Peyton reply. Lily goes back to the Jay, who hands her two of the kids drinks.

"Don't worry, Jamie and Soy, we didn't forget about you", she says handing them each a drink.

"Thank you Lils", the pair reply in thanks. Lily returns to Jay, She sits down in front of him and pulls out another capri-sun. she opens it without bother and hands it to him.

"There you go, Jay" she says.

"Lily are you sure this is the best, how sure are you about this, I'm a little nervous", Jay says.

"Jay, I am one hundred percent sure about this, I promise it's really good", Lily says with absolute seriousness.

"Well..., OK, if your sure, I trust you", Jay says lifting the straw up to his mouth and taking a drink. "Oh wow, Lily, that is really good, I'm glad you suggested I have one".

"I told you it was good" Lily says pulling out her own drink. Jay smiles at her. Will nudges his arm and smirks, he just smirks back at him. Everybody sits in silence for a while enjoying the cold drinks.

"Um Jay, can I ask you something", Jamie asks.

"Sure Little man, what it is?" Jay asks.

"Well Mommy and Daddy said we could have a pool party, I know you won't be able to go in the water but will you, Maddie and Will come? We want to meet Maddie and welcome you to Tree Hill properly. It will be lots of fun", Jamie asks nervously.

"That sounds like a lot of fun, I'm sure Maddie would love to, but my little sister will probably be there too is that OK?", Jay asks.

"No of course that's OK, the invitation is for all of you, we have a lot of space and can't wait to meet Abigail and Maddie. We just wanna give all of you a proper Tree Hill Welcome, it's not very often that we get new people moving into town", Haley explains.

"Well if your sure it's not too much trouble, we would love to come" Jay says.

"It's honestly perfect Jay, Haley is the best at cooking for large groups of people, plus you really need some down time before starting your job on Monday". Nathan says.

"That's true for sure" Jay nods.

"Jay who is your new team", Lily who has moved back into Jay's lap asks.

"Well to tell you the truth I only met my new team when I visited before, so I don't really know them yet, but do you wanna know their names", Jay tells and asks the girl.

"Yes I wanna their names", Lily says.

"Well let's see there is Hank Voight, he's my new boss, them there are Adam Ruzek, Alvin Olinsky, Antonio Dawson, Kevin Attwater and Kim Burgess", Jay says.

"Wow that's a lot of people, I hope they are nice and can help keep you safe", Lily says.

"Thank you Sweet pea, I hope so too and something tells me that they will be, everyone seems really nice", Jay says.

"I hope they keep you safe, but if you get hurted remember you have to come home to Maddie, she doesn't have a Mommy so you have to be OK for her", Lily says.

"I remember Sweet pea, but Maddie has her Aunt Abi and Uncle Will to take care of her too, when I need some help, but I am going to be extra careful and try not to get hurt again, I promise", Jay tells her seriously.

"Good, I want you to be safe and Maddie needs you, just like I need my mommy, since my daddy is in heaven with Maddie's mommy", Lily says cuddling into Jay.

"You are absolutely right and I'm always going to do my best to come back to Maddie, But remember where your daddy is right now", Jay tells Lily.

"I remember" Lily says with her hand over her heart. "Remember your mommy is there too", Lily says putting her little hand over Jay's heart.

"Thanks for reminding me but I think Will needs to remember, do you wanto show and tell him?", Jay says and asks. Lily nods and stands up, moving in front of Will.

"My daddy is in heaven with your mommy and Maddie's mommy, but my daddy is always right here in my heart and you know what Will?" she asks.

"What Lily?", Will asks.

"Your Mommy is in your heart too, she's in Jay's but also in yours and always will be", Lily says with her hand over Will's heart.

"Thank you", Will says pulling her into a quick hug. Jay whispers something in Lily's ear, she nods with a smile and walks over to her Mom.

"Mommy don't cry, Daddy is and always will be in your heart too", Lily says again with her hand over her Moms heart. Karen pulls her into a hug.

"Thank you for saying that baby, I really needed to hear it", she whispers in her daughter's ear.

The circle is really quiet with Lily taking a seat back in her Moms lap, everyone is processing what they saw and heard. Will lays his head on his brothers shoulder and Jay gives him a squeeze in recognition. Jays pain is kicking back in and he starts to squirm a little in his spot. Will sits back up and looks at him.

"I'm sorry everybody but I think I need to check my brothers stitches and re-wrap them then get him more pain killers", Will says to the group.

"Oh honestly Will don't apologise, we understand, we should get going anyway it's getting late, nearly time for the kiddos to go to bed. Jay you've had an exhausting couple days and should get some rest, we'll see you tomorrow", Haley says.

"Yeah I could really a full nights sleep with out being woken up like every hour to answer questions", Jay mock glares at his brother.

"Hey' it's not my fault you have a concussion and have to check to make sure you don't slip in to a coma and die on me during the night", Will retorts back.

"OK your right but could limit the waking up tonight to every two hours or something, the movers are bringing the stuff in the morning and I need to be able to keep my eyes open to move it inside and around the house", Jay says.

"Fine I can do that", Will replies.

"But really Haley you guys did enough to help us today with the painting, so you don't have to come tomorrow", Jay insists. Before Haley can reply however someone else does.

"Jay, we want to help you. My Daddy and uncle Lucas are big and strong, they can help you lift heavy things, my Mommy and Aunt Peyton are really good at decorating and arranging things, Grandma Karen is really good at being bossy and Lily, Sawyer and me are really good at arranging toys and being tidy. We want to help and make this Maddie's new home, her bedroom has to be amazing so she doesn't feel sad", Jamie declares. "Plus we really like you".

"Well when you put it like that Little man, how can I refuse, so if everyone is OK with coming back it would be greatly appreciated", Jay says.

"OK, so it's settled, we're all coming back to move everything in", Haley announces.

"Since Jay has dubbed me the boss, I propose that we let Jay and Will get Jay fixed up and both to bed. The movers will be here early, everything will be left in the open space, the two of you will sleep for a couple more hours. At eleven everyone will meet at the cafe for lunch, we will eat and then come back here to make a start, there are a lot of us so it really should only take us a few hours to get everything sorted and settled. We will have dinner and then let the boys alone for an earlier night". Karen says.

"That sounds good, then on Friday we are all going to the river court to play Basket ball, you and Will are more than welcome to come and join us Jay if you don't have plans already that is", Nathan says.

"Oh, Please Jay you have to come I wanna show you that I can play", Jamie says with excitement lacing his voice.

"We would love to come and watch you play Jamie", Jay tells the boy.

"Great so we have a plan for the next two days, now we are going to go and will see you to tomorrow at the cafe", Peyton says.

Everybody then leaves but not before the three children all give Jay a big hug each.

 _Hope you like the chapter! The next chapter might skip a little bit in some places._


	6. Two Days

Chapter 6 - Two Days

 _This chapter is the two days before Maddie arrives!_

The Halstead Brother's eventually got to bed that night after Will restitched Jay's wound, re-bandaged his broken ribs and gave him some much needed pain relief. Will only had to wake Jay up once or twice for his concussion check so they got to sleep a little better than the night before.

The pair did have to wake up early however to let the movers get all of the stuff out of their van and into the living room of the house. The beds were laid against the wall and everything was just placed around the couch in the space available. After everything was in the house, Jay signed the mover's paperwork saying that he received everything from the van. Then Jay and Will both lay back down on the couch after setting an alarm for meeting everyone at the cafe. They got a few more hours of sleep.

All of the other adults, got their kids up and dressed, they headed to the cafe to meet their new friends. Jay and Will had just walked up.

"Morning Jay!" Sawyer shouts running to Jay and jumping in his arms.

"Morning Sawyer!", Jay exclaims catching the girl.

"Me next, I want a hug too!", Jamie says coming over to the pair. Jay picks him up too.

"Wow guys this is a great group hug", Jay says. Haley opens the door to the cafe and everyone goes inside, Jay sets the boy and girl on the floor. Everyone takes a seat except for Karen and Haley.

"Right now what does everyone want for brunch?" Haley asks holding a small note book and pen. Everyone rattles off what they want to eat, Haley writes it, then she and Karen turn around to head into the kitchen.

"Um Karen could I talk to you outside for a minute please, I promise it will be quick", Jay asks standing up.

"Of course Jay", Karen says before following him outside. Once outside Jay looks nervous and jittery.

"Karen I just wanted to apologise for last night for overstepping", Jay says seriously and apologetically.

"Jay what on earth are you talking about, what do you have to apologise for?" Karen asks.

"The comment about Lily's dad, I was trying to help her feel better, but I didn't think about how it would affect you, I'm really sorry that you were upset, I promise not to say anything else again about it", Jay says all to seriously.

"OK, Jay for starters I'm not upset with you, to tell you the truth I'm very grateful, you gave Lily something that is so sweet and important. I have always told Lily that her dad was in heaven now, he died when I was pregnant. Lily never got to meet him, my little girl doesn't really talk much about it to anyone and that's my fault..."

"Karen it's not your fault", Jay interrupts.

"But it is my fault Jay, After Keith died my whole world collapsed, it was the worst, I spiralled and am ashamed to say that it almost cost me Lily. After the scare, I knew I had to do better, I shoved all of my depressed feelings to the back and just kept going with life. Lily was the best thing to happen to me after that. When she was born it was pretty traumatic, but again I got through it for my little angel. Lily really hasn't asked me about her father, except for once and told her he was in heaven. Jay I'm thankful to you, Lily must have mentioned him for you to say anything, and what you did say has helped her and me tremendously", Karen tells him.

"I only told her, what I used to tell Will and Abigail and now Maddie. I'm glad I could help and for what it's worth, I think you have done an amazing job with Lily, she honestly seems like an amazing and sweet little girl", Jay says.

"Thank you for that, but let's go back, I have to help Haley with brunch".

"OK, lets go but I'm going to help Haley while you sit down with everyone else you deserve it", Jay says before going inside and heading right to the kitchen, where he helps Haley, who is honestly a little impressed that the man can cook.

Haley and Jay worked together to make everyone something to eat and they all sat down to eat a nice big brunch. Afterwards everyone headed back to Jay's new house. Where everything is waiting for them. Stepping into the living room...

"Now if you guys want to back out now, I will completely understand, this is a lot and you guys have done enough already", Jay says.

"Man, we're here and we can all help to this place ready, Luke and I will take your double bed frame, While you and Will take the single when we can get both done", Nathan says.

"Right, then we will get the mattresses on", Lucas says.

"Then Peyton, Karen and I can make the beds, we'll get it positioned in the right place", Haley adds.

"Yeah that sounds good, then if it's OK with you guys we can all bring in the different cupboards and sets of drawers", Will suggests.

"Yip the four of us will get the heavy stuff, the ladies to can direct where to place things", Nathan says.

"We can do that and then help to organise the things in the rooms especially Maddie's, the kids help to put the toy's, books and DVD's away, and everything like that", Peyton says.

"This all sounds great, I have some wall stickers for Maddie's room, would you position them the way you think would look good, I really Maddie to like the room and I'm not the best at that kind of thing", Jay asks a little shyly.

"Oh of course I can do that for you Jay, we'll have the room looking amazing I promise", Haley exclaims.

"Well we have a plan lets get too it everybody", Karen calls out.

Everyone takes their task seriously, with the men building up the wooden frames of the beds and carrying the mattresses into the rooms. The women putting up the wall stickers which was different things and then Maddie's name in big letters, which they put right above the bed. Which after being built were made up with sheets. With that done, the men brought in the different cupboards and draws into each room, the women directed them, then they checked that nothing was out place in them. The woman then got the kids to help arrange the little girl's belongs in the room, they stacked the book shelf with books, DVDs, games and a few ornaments, they found places for all of the stuffed animals. After adding a few finishing touches to the room, it was complete, so they came and shut the door, heading to Jay's room they found the men just finishing, the room just the bare minimum because Jay didn't really many personal belongings. The room, the guest room had already been the bed just needed to be made and set up right. The group then moved onto the kitchen where they put away plates, bowls and cutlery. Set up the coffee maker and toaster, and stocked the cupboards, Everything was done but about five o'clock, and Jay was feeling pretty sore in the ribs and stitches, but he tried not to show it too much. Jay did however notice that someone was missing from the group standing together in the room. he wandered away from the group, passing by the bathroom, he stops and sees Lily sitting in the bathtub. He knocks softly and walks in leaving the door open a little behind him.

"Lily are OK sweetheart?", he asks.

"You didn't give me a hug this morning, only Jamie and Sawyer", Lily sniffles a little.

"You know what I knew there was something really important missing from that group hug earlier, but you know what, now you get your own special hug and it can be as big as you want, what do you say I really missed my Lily-bug hug today", Jay says holding his arms out.

"Did you really miss it? I thought you didn't want to hug me today and don't like me anymore", Lily says shyly.

"Are you kidding, of course I missed it, I love your hugs, their so warm and sweet. Of course I still like you, we're friends aren't we and I promise to always hug you, and if there's a time where you just want a hug, I'm happy to give you lots of them. So come give my warm hug", he says with a smile. With a shy look, Lily carefully climbs out of the bath and wraps her little arms around Jay's neck, he lifts her up, squeezing a little. He eventually places her on his hip kissing her forehead. Lily lays her head on his shoulder and they make their way back to the kitchen. Karen was confused but decided to ask Jay about it when she gets the chance. With the moving in officially done, everyone decided to order some Chinese food. They spread blankets in the living room floor to eat. Lily sat with Jay, she really needed the reassurance that he still likes her. Soon enough it gets quite late, so everyone gathers their belongings if they had anything.

"Jay, Will are you still coming to the river court tomorrow to play basketball with us, it will really be fun?", Jamie asks giving Jay a hug.

"Um, I think we're still coming, but we should warn you, Jay and I are pretty good", Will says.

"Uh Will, we're not that good, Nathan and Lucas are pros they are going to be crazy good. But yes little man we will most definitely be there", Jay says still hugging the boy. who then steps away from him and back to his Mom.

"Yeah, I'm excited Jay, you can help me play and shoot the ball", Sawyer says excitedly. Also hugging Jay.

"You are most definitely right about that Sawyer, I can absolutely help you and so can Will, we'll all have a lot of fun and then hopefully on Sunday you'll all get to meet Maddie and my sister, Abigail", Jay says hugging the young girl back.

"I'm excited for Maddie to come here", Sawyer says.

"Oh believe me Sawyer, I am too, I miss my little girl so much", Jay reveals with a sad face letting Sawyer go from their hug.

"Don't be sad Jay, Maddie comes the day after tomorrow and you will get to hug her all you want" Lily says.

"Your absolutely right, Lily-bug, I'll have fun with you guys at the river court tomorrow and then on Saturday, I get to pick up Maddie and Abi at the airport", Jay tells Lily, while picking her up. "Thank you for reminding me Lily-bug, have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow, for our next special hug, OK?". Lily smiled giving one last squeeze and left with everyone else after discussing what time they were all meeting.

Jay and Will spent the night marvelling on how well and fast they managed to get everything done with the help of their new friends. Both went to sleep, Jay was still feeling sore from his injuries so Will made him take another painkiller.

In the morning, the pair got up and dressed, had a slice of toast and watched a little of television that was on after setting up the signal and tuning into the Tree Hill channels and what not. They then followed Nathan's directions and met everyone at the river court.

"HI JAY!" Jamie excitedly shouts running and hugging Jay. He moves on "Hi Will, I'm glad your both here".

"Hey Little man, we're happy to be here", Jay says. He hugs Haley, Karen and Peyton, then shakes Lucas and Nathan's hands. Then Jay is nearly knocked over by two very excited little girls, he gives Lily and Sawyer a great big hug.

The group starts playing basketball, the four men taking turns helping each of the kids to shoot hoops. The woman played some but then sat and watched the men and kids, who were having a great time. They stopped for lunch to eat the picnic that Haley, Peyton and Karen put together. everyone had a sandwich and some fruit. Then the game started again, the woman more involved this time, everyone having a great time. Hours pass and everyone is pretty worn out, eventually everybody lays on the ground. Haley has an idea.

"Jay, do you think you and Will come over for dinner now, that way you will know where to go on Sunday for the pool party?", she asks.

"Um yeah Haley, if your sure, we would love to come for dinner and it will be helpful to know where where we're going on Sunday", Jay says.

Haley nods and everyone gathers their stuff leaving the court. Once everyone is in their separate cars, everyone follows Haley and Nathan home. Jay and Will are not surprised when they pull up to quite a big house, it is beautiful and modernised looking from the outside.

Once inside the house, Jay compliments the couple on the beauty of their home, Haley shows him her appreciation through some words, a hug and a beaming smile. Everyone heads outside, where the guys start to cook the burgers and hot dogs on the grill. While the women, prepare the rolls and chat, the children play around in the garden. When everything is ready, they all decide to eat outside because it's really quite warm out tonight.

No one notices the time, they are all just having a great time talking to each other, when all three kids yawn within a few seconds.

"Alright kiddos time for bed, go get into your pyjamas", Haley says. All three kids stand up, Jamie turns to Jay.

"Um, Jay could you please tuck us in tonight, we're having a sleepover and want you to see my room", Jamie asks.

"Yeah Jay, I want you to tuck me in too", Sawyer says innocently.

Jay looks to the parents and asks "do you guys mind?".

"No man of course not, if your comfortable enough go ahead", Nathan says and everyone else nods along.

"Alright kiddo's say goodnight to your parents and Will", Jay says. Each child hugs their parents and Will. Lily and Sawyer each take one of Jay's hands while Jamie leads the way up stairs to his bedroom. Jamie makes a big show of it to Jay, the whole room is blue, there are three sleeping bags on the floor, one for each child. He also right away spots two pink bags.

"Jamie I really love your room, what do you say we get you all ready for bed. Everybody get your pyjamas out and let me know if you need help OK?" he asks. The girls go to their respective bags while Jamie goes to his drawers. Two out of three of the kids start to get ready. Sawyer is on the floor looking sad.

"Hey Sawyer, whats the matter, are you OK?", Jay asks. Sawyer looks at Jay with a teary eye.

"I need some help to get into my pyjamas, it's only a night gown, I'm sorry", she says with a sniffle.

"No don't be sorry, your still a little younger than Jamie and Lily, it's OK to need a little help, and I'm happy to help you OK, so no more tears, I wanna see that pretty smile of yours", Jay says as he tickles Sawyer. After the tickles, he helps Sawyer into her night gown and folds all of the kids clothes neatly into piles. They have more cuddles, one bedtime story and with that the kids were asleep. Jay quietly leaves the room and heads back out to join everyone else.

"Everything OK up there?"Haley asks.

"Yeah everything is good their all asleep, Sawyer did get a little upset that she needed a little help to get into her pyjamas, though", Jay says.

"Uh I forgot about that, I'm sorry Jay, I should have come to help her", Peyton says sadly.

"Peyton honestly don't worry about it, I didn't mind in the least helping, Maddie sometimes needs help too, so if she was at a sleepover I would hope that someone would be OK to help her, too", Jay explains.

"Oh no of course we would all be OK helping with that, I for one hope that maybe Lily and Maddie could have sleepovers", Karen says.

"Oh yeah me too, Sawyer would love that, I definitely wouldn't mind offering a hand", Peyton says. Everyone nods their heads in agreement.

"So yeah OK, we're all on the same page then almost like a team", Jay says.

"I always say it takes a village to a raise a child, we're each others village", Karen says.

"I've never had a village to help, just my siblings", Jay says looking at his hands.

"Well now you do have a village, that's us Jay", Haley says.

"Thank You guys that means a lot to me, I know we're going to love living here now", Jay says with sentiment. In that moment, his mobile starts ringing and he answers already grinning knowing how it is.

"Hey Abs, I'm gonna put you on speaker, we're with our new friends you'll meet them on Sunday", Jay says putting the phone on speaker.

"Hey Abs, hows the munchkin?!", Will calls out.

"Hey Brothers, the munchkin is great, she's right here, we're ready for bed and just wanted to say goodnight, right Maddie", Abigail says.

"Yeah, Hi Daddy Hi Uncle Will, I miss you", the group hears a sweet voice.

"I miss you too Princess, But Auntie Abi is bringing you on the aeroplane tomorrow to come out, I can't wait to finally see my Princess, and you'll get to see our new house and your room which is honestly amazing, I had some help with. Haley, Karen and Peyton helped out a lot, they got it organised and everything, Jamie, Lily and Sawyer helped to put your toys and everything away too", Jay says with enthusiasm.

"Oh wow, I can't wait to see it, Daddy will you say thank you to everyone for me?", Maddie says.

"Maddie we're on speak so everyone can hear if you wanna say it now Princess, but the other kids are in bed already you'll get to meet everyone on Sunday, we've been invited to a pool party, how cool is that", Jay says.

"Really a pool party! Daddy I can't wait, it's gonna be so much fun!, Thank you everyone for helping my Daddy!", Maddie shouts a little.

"Your very welcome sweetie, we can't wait to meet you", everyone exclaims. This causes the little girl to giggle.

"Anyway Daddy, I have to go to bed now, the quicker I go and wake up, the quicker we can be there with you", Maddie says softer.

"Oke Doke Princess, you be extra good for Auntie Abi tomorrow, OK", Jay says smiling.

"I will Daddy but you still have to sing for me, Auntie Abi doesn't mind", Maddie says.

"OK Princess hop into bed and I'll sing a little for you", Jay says mouthing an apology to everyone, but he only receives smiles and thumps up.

"OK Daddy I'm ready", Maddie exclaims excitedly. Jay takes a deep breath and starts to sing.

I closed my eyes and I can see...

The song continues on until Jay eventually eases out lowly.

"That's it big brother, the munchkin is asleep, works every time, I must admit though that I miss when you used to sing to me every night", Abi says in to the phone leaving her niece to sleep in piece.

"Aw Abs I can sing to you too if you like", Jay says softly.

"Nah that's OK, I'm getting ready for bed too anyway, have to have the munchkin up early, I'm gonna take her for breakfast before the flight, and we will see you tomorrow brothers, love ya, oh and warn everybody that the excited child on the phone is far different in person", Abigail reminds the pair.

"Yeah, we will Abs have a good sleep and see you tomorrow, love ya too", Will says and Jay repeats. With that said they hang up the call.

"Um OK, can I be the first to say Wow, that was incredibly beautiful and sweet", Haley exclaims.

"OMG yes that was amazing Jay, where did you learn to sing like that?", Peyton says and asks.

"Um Thanks guys but it's really nothing I've been sing my siblings to sleep for years, I took over after our Mom died, she kinda taught me, I would always listen and try to follow along with her when she would sing to Will and I, then when Abi was born I would sing with her, but after she dies it was just me. I was just trying to settle Maddie down one night and started to sing, it worked like a charm and i the only way she will sleep soundly. I have sang every night to her over the phone while being here too, it's great bonding", Jay explains a little embarrassed.

"That was a lovely story Jay, Maddie is lucky to have a father like you in her life", Karen says smiling.

"Karen your right about that Maddie is lucky but she's not the only one, Abigail and I are lucky too, if we hadn't had Jay in our lives especially after our parents died I'm not sure what would have happened. I know I'm the oldest but I can see without a doubt that back then there was no way that I could have raised my really young sister, Jay took that on in a heartbeat, he even got me to clean my act up, he looked after all of us without any hesitation. We owe him everything to be honest", Will admits.

"Will you don't owe me anything and neither does Abi so just please tone down, I'm not a saint and never will be, sometimes I think you and Abi would have been better off without me to be deeply honest", Jay mumbles.

"Right enough of that little brother, you know that is so not true, you make everything better and always have. This is supposed to be a happy time, you officially moved away from Chicago from the bad memories, you and Maddie can start to make new memories starting tomorrow, I for one know that the pool party is going to be the best, I know you can't go in the water fully, but it will still be fun", Will says.

"OK your right Will, sorry to put a damper on the night guys, I will be better I promise", Jay says to the group around him.

"Don't worry about it man, I know we don't know everything but what Will said is right, you moved away from all the memories, this town is great and if you give it a chance, you and Maddie will make some great new ones and I think e would all like to help you do that starting with Sunday", Nathan says. Haley and everyone agrees.

"You guys are honestly amazing to be up for helping with this considering all that you have already done for me us, thank you", Jay says with emotion.

"OK guys I'm gonna get this guy home, so he is well rested, we gotta check your ribs and everything again too. But before that Abigail mentioned on the phone to warn you, well it's just that Maddie was really excited speaking to her head and mentioning her room and the pool party, she is not usually that loud, she can be when she knows and has bonded with you but otherwise she is really super shy. On Sunday it will take sometime for her to warm to you all probably but please don't take it personally", Will says.

"Maddie is really sweet and everything she is just kinda like me, I can be a really reserved person but considering that you worked your charm on me I think you will work it on her too, she is going to love you guys", Jay says. "Will do you really have to poke and prod at my ribs again, we already know that they are bruised", he says to his Brother.

"Jay you know that I've got to check in case, they become worse, there could be a chip which in turn could break off and cause worse problems for you like a punctured lung, you already know ho that feels so don't fight me on this will you", Will says strongly.

"OK fine lets go", he tells his brother. directing his gaze to their friends, "Guys thank you for all of this, if we don't see you tomorrow we will on Sunday, have a good day off tomorrow. Night and please tell the kids we'll see them on Sunday too", he tells them. With that Jay and Will leave, climbing into the car that Jay bought earlier.

After the two men left, the family members sat in silence for a while mulling over what just went on in front of them.

"I for one am very glad that we now have Jay in this town with us, I can't wait to meet Maddie, they are so going to have a big family with us", Karen says.

"I completely agree with that Karen, I can't wait until Brooke gets back, Jamie wants to call her I told him we would on Sunday after the pool party so he could tell her all about it, I think we should all be there for it so we can tell her about our newest family member. I just stop thinking that Jay would be perfect for her but I don't want to force anything, I just hope that she is OK with us adding someone to the group without her having met him", Haley says to the group.

"I kinda think they would be perfect together too, but again we shouldn't force anything, I mean Jay also does have a daughter to think about it. And I do think we should all video chat together, I wanna see my B, Davis", Peyton exclaims.

"So we all video chat on Sunday night, I like that, but I think on Sunday we should also keep an eye on Jay, Will made it pretty clear that he still has to watch for his health. I didn't like what he said could happen to his ribs and lungs or the fact that Jay knows what that feels like, meaning he has had a punctured lung before and goodness knows what other injuries he has had in his life", Karen says and everyone agrees.

It gets late, so Karen, Lucas and Peyton leave to go home. Haley and Nathan check on the kids and then head to bed.

All thinking the same thing, Sunday is going to be fun and interesting.

 _Hope to post again soon, but also working on other stuff!_

"


	7. Weekend Fun

Chapter 7 - Weekend Fun

 _This Chapter is Maddie arriving and meeting everyone for the pool party! and some Brooke finally!_

On Saturday morning, Jay and Will slept in a little bit, they had a short talk with Abi and Maddie on the phone before the girl's flight was scheduled to take off, they agreed to meet in the arrivals area of the airport.

So now it was just a waiting game, the two men went through the house making sure everything was set up and ready for the arrival of the Halstead girls, everything was perfect, Maddie's room, the room that Abi and Will would kinda share and Jay's room too.

Will also makes it a point to check Jay's health, his ribs are still really painful but tolerable, meanwhile the stitches were looking a little red, he washed the area out and applied some antibiotic cream.

"I'm serious bro, if you feel any different you have to tell or have someone get me right away, it could change in a heartbeat, you have to promise OK", Will says with such seriousness that Jay knows this is not a joking matter.

"OK, I promise big bro, I will tell you or someone if something is wrong, I have Maddie to think about", Jay says to Will.

"Yes you do which means you can't be stupid in any way shape or form", Will says half joking. By the time that they have doddled around the house, like 2 and a half hours have passed and the two jump in the car heading to the airport.

Upon arriving at Tree Hill International Airport, Jay and Will find the perfect spot to watch the arrival gate, they will see the two girls arriving and will be seen immediately in return. The meeting time is approaching and Will is standing to the side a little, he has his phone out to record the Father Daughter reunion, he it's special to both parties.

Fifteen minutes later, people start to make their way through, Will has started the video and has the camera pointed on his brother who is watching vigilantly. When Will sees his brothers face brighten, he knows that his niece is near, so he turns the camera in the right direction. He is just in time to catch "DAADDYY" exclaimed by the little girl who is seen letting go of her Aunts hand and running as fast as she could to her Father who is on his knees now ready to accept his baby in his arms. Little Maddie comes flying and lands right in her Father's arms, Jay hugs his Daughter tightly to his chest, she wraps her little arms and legs around him and he stands with her still in his warm embrace.

"I missed you so much Daddy", little Maddie says into her dad's neck, where her head is resting.

"I missed you too Princess so much", Jay says still hugging his little girl. After a long embrace, Maddie hops into Will's embrace. "Hi Uncle Will I missed you too", she says sweetly.

"Hey Mads, I missed you too", Will says. He videos this too and then points towards the other two who are reuniting a few steps away.

"Hey Abs thanks so much for all of this, you are amazing", Jay exclaims hugging his little sister.

"Hey big Brother, seriously no thanks is needed, I am happy to help, it was really no bother at all, plus now that I'm here we get to have some family time, just the four of us today", Abigail says hugging her Brother back tightly.

"Yeah that's a big bonus, I really hated that about Chicago, we never got to really see or spend time together as a family. But I am confident in saying that is going to change here. Plus the people here that we have met this past week have been amazing, you and Maddie get to meet them tomorrow, they invited us to a pool party", Jay says pulling away from his sister smiling.

"Oh I am definitely looking forward to that, I can't wait to meet them", Abi says. Both siblings then look over to their older Brother who is holding Maddie on his hip. They make their way over to them.

"Gimme a hug big Brother, it's long over due", Abigail smirks at the oldest sibling. Will hands his phone to Maddie and then passes her to her Father. The little girl keeps the video going, filing her Aunt and Uncle hugging, she then switches the camera to the front facing one and gets her Dad smiling, she kisses his cheek quickly and turn the camera back to the other two. The group are standing together, Will has taken the camera back to get the reaction of his niece.

"Alright guys what do you say we go and see the house, it's all ready!", Will says smiling.

"Yes please, I wanna see my new house", Maddie says excitedly bouncing in her Dads arms.

"Yeah come on guys I wanna see it too, then we can watch a movie all snuggled up, we haven't done that in a while", Abigail says making Maddie more giddy.

"Well lets go people, do we have everything", Jay asks.

"Yeah this is everything", Abi says. Each adult takes a bag while Maddie carries her little bag. They all climb in the new car. With that they drive through Tree Hill, Maddie looks out the window and is in awe. When they pull along the right street and into the driveway, both Abigail and Maddie gasp.

"Come on Princess let's go inside", Jay says opening Maddie's door and helping her out of her car seat. The four make their way inside, Abi is sure to tell them how beautiful it is.

"Give me a minute and then come and show Maddie her room", Will says walking off, he goes inside the room, with his phone to again video his niece's reaction.

"Alright Princess you ready to see your new room?", Jay asks and with a squealed yes, he lifts his daughter and carries her to the right door, setting her down, so she can go in on her own. After a second, Maddie opens the door stepping in, all that is heard is a loud gasp and squeal. The three adults can tell that the little girl is impressed . Maddie stands in the middle and twirls to see everything, Will is recording the whole thing. He and Jay decided to do it to be able to show everyone that helped how much the girl loved it, after their hard work.

"Daddy I love my new room, Thank you so much, you too Uncle Will", Maddie says hugging her Dad and Uncle, who can't stop smiling. The little girl then turns, "isn't it amazing Auntie Abi, Daddy and Uncle did a great job", Maddie says happily.

"Yeah Mads they did a fantastic job, and you gotta remember to say thank you to your Daddy and Uncle Wills' new friends too, they helped to paint the house and make your new room look this great", Abi says to the little girl.

"I promise to say thank you but Daddy are your new friends nice, are they going to like me and be my friends too", Maddie asks with hope in her eyes and tone.

"Princess, I promise that everyone is super nice, they are going to love you so much and you them, I think they'd like it if you became their friend too especially Jamie, Lily and Sawyer, they are roughly the same age as you, Sawyer is a little younger but they are all great OK", Jay says while kneeling at his daughters height.

"OK Daddy, I can't wait to meet them. Can we get something to eat now, I'm hungry and wanna watch Frozen", Maddie asks then.

"We most definitely can, Will do you wanna run to Karen's and pick up some food for us?, take the car and this money, it's on me his time", Jay asks handing some money to his brother.

"Yeah I'll go big bro, what do we want", Will says.

"What do you want to eat Munchkin?", Jay asks his daughter.

"Um do they have mac n cheese?", Maddie asks curiously.

"I'm pretty sure they do, and I'm going to have the same", Jay says for Maddie and Wills' benefit, then he turns to his sister, "what about you Abs, what do you fancy", he asks her.

"You know what I'm not sure, why don't I go with Will and see some of the town too", Abigail says.

"Yeah sure it's really nice here, I'm sure you'll like it, you'll get to meet who ever is working at Karen's today too", Jay says with a smile. With that said, Abi and Will leave, he points somethings out to her like, where their brother is going to be working from now on, the day care and finally Karen's Cafe, he parks outside and they go in.

"Hey Haley, Karen, how's everything going today?", Will says when he sees the two women.

"Oh Hi Will, we weren't expecting you here today, everything's going well though. How are you?", Haley says and asks smiling.

"That's good, we here for some of your great cooking, this is Jay and I's sister, Abigail, she came with Maddie", Will says by way of introduction.

"Oh it's wonderful to meet you Abigail, your brothers talk highly of you", Karen says shaking the younger woman's hand, Haley does the same.

"It's nice to meet you too, my brothers talk highly of you as well, and everyone they have become friends with so far", Abigail says smiling.

"So what can we get you today?", Haley asks with her notepad at the ready.

"We would like a child's mac n cheese, two adult mac n cheese and whatever, Abi wants please", Will says kindly.

"Can I have a chicken salad please, I better eat healthy now because there is no telling what these two will want to eat later", Abigail says jokingly making the two older women laugh.

"That is no problem at all we will get right to it for you", Karen says, she and Haley go to the kitchen to make the order. Abigail and Will sit down in a booth to wait. They talk but not for long, as their food is ready quite quick. Will hands over the money, they thank the two and go to leave.

"Will I was just wondering about tomorrow, we have some finger foods like sausage rolls, sausages, cheese and such, but are also ordering some pizza and ice cream, does that sound like something you would all enjoy or is there anything I can add on that Maddie likes?", Haley asks with a smile.

"Oh Haley no that all sounds amazing, Maddie isn't fussy, she eats most things so that sounds perfect for us well", Will says with a big smile. "Actually is there anything we can bring to take the load off for you", he asks then.

"No no everything is under control, all you have to bring are yourselves, bathing suits, towels and a little one named Maddie", Haley says with sparkles in her eyes.

"Well OK then, we will see you guys tomorrow, thanks again for the food", Will says and they leave. Once back at the house, they find Jay and Maddie cuddled up on the couch. Everyone gets their food and dig in. After the first bite, Maddie just moans at the good taste and eats the rest without sound, Frozen is playing, and it is calm for the first time in forever.

The rest of the movie is silent and at the end, when Maddie does to chose another DVD, Will tells Jay.

"So Haley has great food ideas for tomorrow, she asked if it sounded alright for Maddie, it's finger foods, like sausages and sausage rolls, cheese, probably fish fingers stuff like that, then she mentioned ordering pizza and ice cream too, I said yes and asked if we could bring anything and she said no", he says to Jay.

"I think we got lucky meeting these people, they have been so good to us already and now this tomorrow, I wanna do something for them in return, I don't start work until Wednesday but that's soon so maybe next weekend, will you guys help me with it?", Jay says and asks.

"Jay I think that's a great idea, of course we will help you, we'll start planning tomorrow night", Abigail says excited at the prospect. Maddie comes in then with another DVD, this time The Incredibles 1 and 2. Once again they watch all cuddled together enjoying family time. After the two movies, the four make dinner chicken nuggets and fries, choosing to avoid eating out and wait for the pizza the next day. They ate while watching another movie, Despicable Me, by the end of this movie, Maddie was tired, Jay gave her a bath, helped her change into pyjamas and tucked her in bed, he lay down for a while to make sure she was settled after a story and then joined his siblings again. They talk about the plan for the next day, and then all go to bed early, Abi in the spare room and Will on the pullout sofa bed having offered.

The next morning, Maddie joined her dad in his bed to cuddle for a while, he could tell she was nervous about the day ahead. So he tries to quench that feeling.

"Princess you know there's nothing to worry about right, I would never let anything happen to you, Abi or Will, we wouldn't be going to the pool party if I didn't trust the people, we're going to have fun", he says seriously.

"Yeah Daddy, I know you will keep me safe, it's just that I didn't have any friends before, so I'm a little scared but excited too", Maddie admits.

"Well here your gong to have lots of friends, I promise", Jay says and tickles Maddie making her laugh. They get up and have some cereal with Abi and Will. Afterwards they all pack a bag with towels and everything. Jay puts Maddie's bathing suit on her with a dress on top and sandals on her little feet. Abi dresses similar, bathing suit under a dress, Will wears his swimming shorts with a vest top and Jay does the same. Making sure they have everything, The family pile into the car and drive to Haley and Nathan's house, they get there at exactly eleven o'clock and meet Lucas and Peyton who had just arrived as well with Sawyer.

"Hey guys, we made it at the same time", Lucas says fist bumping Jay and Will. Sawyer is in her Dad's arms facing the other way.

"We're glad your here guys", Peyton says smiling at the men and woman, she doesn't move to hug them seeing the child in Jay's arms.

"Hey guys we're glad to be here", Jay says smiling wider because as Sawyer hears his voice she turns around so fast.

"JAY YOUR HERE!", she exclaims sliding down from her Dad's arms. Jay kneels setting his daughters feet on the ground, he accepts the little blonde on the other side of Maddie, both girls cling onto him.

"I'm here Sawyer", he says just holding both girls to him. "Sawyer, I want you meet my little girl", Jay says softly pulling away a little. "This is Maddie, Princess this is Sawyer, you want to say hi to her", he says softly to his daughter.

"Hi it's nice to meet you", Maddie says quietly after pulling away from her Dad a little. The blonde little girl smiles her at her and it calms her nerves a tiny bit.

"My name's Sawyer and I like pink", Sawyer says happily.

"I'm Madeline but everyone calls me Maddie and I like pink too", Maddie says back a little louder.

"We can be friends. This is my Mommy, Peyton and my Daddy, Lucas", Sawyer says introducing them.

"It's nice to meet you Miss Peyton and Mr Lucas", Maddie says softly but politely, holding her little hand out to the blonde woman.

"It's nice to finally meet you sweetie", Peyton and Lucas say while shaking the little hand.

"Oh Peyton, Lucas this is Abigail, our little sister and Maddie's Aunt", Jay says introducing them. "It's nice to meet you, you can just call me Abi, I don't mind really", Abi says with a smile.

"It's nice to finally meet you Abi, we've heard good things from your brothers", Peyton says with a smile of her own.

"Well lets go round guys, we don't wanna keep everyone waiting", Jay says, Maddie grabs her Dad's hand and Sawyer holds her other one, together the group go through the side gate, they hear voices. Jay squeezes Maddie's hand in reassurance. Once in sight Jamie is the first to see them.

"JAY I'm glad your here", he says jumping Jay's arm.

"Little Man, I'm glad to be here", he says hugging the boy for a minute and gently putting him down again. "I want you to meet Maddie, Princess this is Jamie", Jay says getting down to their level and smiling.

"Hi I'm Jamie, I like to play and wanna be your friend if that's OK", the little boy says.

"I'm Maddie, It's nice to meet you, I'd like to be your friend too", Maddie says accepting a hug from the boy.

"Mommy, Daddy this is Maddie, she's Jay's little girl and my and Sawyers' new friend. Maddie this is Haley, she's my Mommy and Nathan is my Daddy", Jamie says when his parents walk up beside him.

"Hi it's nice to meet you, Miss Haley and Mr Nathan. You already know my Daddy and Uncle, but this is my Auntie Abi", Maddie says politely and gestures for her Aunt to come over.

"Oh my goodness, it's so good to finally meet you Miss Maddie, your Daddy has told us about you a little bit, is it OK if I give you a little hug?", Haley says and asks softly.

"OK, I'd like that I think, just a little one", Maddie says soft and quietly, holding out her little arms to the woman. Haley smiles warmly and slowly rests her arms around the cute little girl who looks like her Father. Maddie only places her arms on Haley's neck she is not really hugging back but Haley doesn't mind. She pulls back after not even a minute and stands up. "It's nice to meet you too Abigail, your brothers talk very highly of you, Haley reaches to hug the younger woman and she reciprocates.

"You too Haley and you Nathan, Jay and Will have told me amazing things about you, I'm glad my big brother has found people who care about him and my niece here, we sadly can't stay for more than a few weeks, so it's comforting", Abi whispers the last part in the other woman's ear so her brothers don't hear her words.

"I get it and we do care, I promise this whole crazy ragtag family are going to here for them when we're needed and when we're not, they are not getting away that easily, our kids love that man, he is so good with them, we like him, and Maddie is fitting in already, it's a done deal", Haley says with conviction. Abi can only smile and nod in appreciation. At that moment, they hear a squeal.

"JAY! I've been waiting for you to get here", Lily announces before barrelling into Jay's arms.

"Hey Lily bug, how are you?", he asks while hugging the girl tightly.

"I'm so excited to get in the pool but I have to wear floats because I can't swim yet", Lily says while hugging.

"Um my Daddy and Uncle Will could help you, they are going to teach me more too, I can swim a little already but I still need some help. Right Daddy?", Maddie says helpfully.

"That's right Princess, I can't go in the pool today, but I can sit at the side and watch Uncle Will teach you a little bit, Aunt Abi can help you too I taught her how to swim when she was about your age", Jay says with a smile.

"Hi I'm Lily, it's nice to meet you", Lily says kindly.

"I'm Maddie it's nice to meet you too", Maddie says softly.

"I would like to learn to swim with you and we can be friends", Lily says excitedly.

"I'd like that too, my Uncle Will is a lot of fun , Auntie Abi is too", Maddie says with a sparkling smile.

"Mommy look I've made a new friend, this is Jay's little girl Maddie, and this is my Mommy, Maddie, she's super nice", Lily says upon seeing her Mom behind her.

"Hi there sweetie, my name is Karen, it's nice to finally meet you", Karen says kindly.

"Hi Miss Karen it's nice to meet you too", Maddie says politely once again.

After all the introductions, Jamie suggests with urgency that they get in the pool. It would seem that everyone has the swim costume on under their clothes to, Jay takes Maddie's dress off and covers her with sun cream, he then fixes small arm bands on her along with her goggles, she is ready then to get in.

Jay sits with his legs in the water watching his daughter in the pool with the other kids playing, Abi and Will are in with them as well as, Haley, Nathan, Peyton and Lucas. Karen is like Jay and only has her legs in the pool. The pair sit together and just watch everyone having fun. He is happy to see Maddie playing with the other three kids, he knew they would get along well, Karen too looks happy, she is thinking that Lily sure does like little Maddie, they warmed up fast.

Maddie is playing with the other kids, but she sticks with Abi and Will when she needs help, she likes the other adults but needs to get to know them better for physical affection and touch. Everyone respects that knowing that the child has to get used to them over time. Will helps Maddie and Lily with learning a little bit of how to swim, he knows that his brother wants to be the one who teaches everything, so he only helps them a little bit.

After watching the kids play for a while, Karen gets up to go inside and prepare some food. Jay makes sure that his siblings are OK with Maddie for a while before he gets up and follows the older woman into the kitchen to help her. Together the pair put things in bowls and everything, they carry the table outside and start to put the cold food on it, Karen announces for everyone to get out of the water and dried off. Jay wraps Maddie in her princess towel, he turns to Peyton and sees her shivering getting her daughter first.

"Peyt I can bring Sawyer to get changed with Maddie here, so you can get dressed and not be cold", he says kindly.

"That would be great Jay, if your sure, thank you", the blonde says, she turns to the mini blonde, " Hey Sawy, Jay's gonna take you to get dry and dressed with Maddie OK", she says.

"Yes Mommy, I show Jay my bag inside", Sawyer declares making her way to the man standing with his daughter. Jay scoops both towel clad little girls into his arms and heads inside, in their wake the girls can be heard giggling. While Jay gets Maddie and Sawyer dry and into their clothes, everyone else is doing the same. They all reconvene and get some food, it's still lovely out so they all eat outside, the kids get to know each other better, while the adults watch with smiles on their faces. Jay is happy that his daughter is getting along with the kids that he has grown so fond of the last few days. After eating and cleaning up, the kids want to play a game, they rope all of the adults in to playing chase me, Will once again reminding his brother to be careful. The adults mostly let the children win, Maddie is growing to like everyone very much especially Haley, Karen and Peyton, who she is no longer scared of.

The group seemed to run around the garden for hours, eventually they all got pretty worn out. Jamie, Lily, Maddie and Sawyer are all pretty tired, but don't want to leave the party.

"Hey kiddos why don't you go have a little nap, then we can do more stuff after", Haley suggests.

"But Momma we don't want to miss the party", Jamie mumbles sleepily.

"Munchkins we will put a pause on the party until you all wake up, it won't be any fun without you guys anyway, us adults will just sit around and talk about boring stuff", Nathan says to the kids.

"Tell you what, why don't we do what we used to do in Chicago Princess?", Jay asks looking at his little girl.

"Really Daddy! we haven't done that in a while, I miss it", Maddie says with excitement.

"Haley, Nathan do you guys mind if we mess up your living room for nap time?", Jay asks nervously looking at the couple. "I promise to tidy it up afterwards", he adds in then.

"We don't mind at all, I'm just a little curious at what you guys are gonna do", Haley says smiling.

"Yeah man go ahead, we don't mind and will help to tidy up too", Nathan adds.

"Thank you so much guys", Jay tells the adults. "Well Mads why don't you tell Jamie, Lily and Sawyer what we wanna do", he says excitedly to his daughter.

"Yes! so Daddy and Me when we lived in Chicago and it was so cold and snowy outside would make a fort in the living using all of the cushions and stuff, then we would drink a hot chocolate and Daddy would read me some stories and we'd sleep in the tent together, sometime Auntie Abi and Uncle Will would come too, it was so much fun", Maddie says excitedly to the others.

"That sounds so cool, can I help make the fort?", Jamie says and asks.

"Yeah Jay I wanna help too", Sawyer says cutely.

"Of course, we're all gonna make it together, we're gonna need lots of pillows and some sheets", Jay tells the kids with enthusiasm. He sees Lily looking down at the ground and after a nod and reassuring smile from Karen, Jay swoops down in front of her. "Hi Lily bug, whats the matter huh", Jay asks softly.

"I'm nervous", Lily whispers.

"Oh OK, can you tell me what your nervous about, I promise it's OK", Jay says softly with love in his voice that makes everyone like him even more.

"Um I've never made a fort before and I'm a little scared to make it and sleep there too", Lily admits shyly.

"Oh Lily bug it's OK, it's not that hard to make a fort and there are lots of us to help, it will be done in no time. As for the sleeping, you will be with Jamie, Maddie and Sawyer. We will tuck you in nice and cosy, and I'm gonna read you guys a story, you can cuddle into me OK, I won't mind at all", Jay says sweetly. This makes the little girl smile widely and throw her little arms around him. Everyone then goes inside and helps to gather cushions, pillows and sheets, once they have everything, Jay and Maddie take the lead on building the fort, everyone can see that they are very in-sync with each other. The two encourage everyone to join and it will be made quicker, which is true, they are done in no time, the kids yawning a little more by the end. "Mads this is a lot better than our other forts isn't it?", Jay asks his daughter.

"Yeah Daddy it's so cool and a lot bigger, can we go into it now, I'm ready for a story", Maddie says and all of the kids agree with the last bit.

"Alright Kiddos, have a great nap OK, we'll see you after", Haley says pulling Jamie into her arms. She then pulls Lily and Sawyer in for hugs too. She receives thank yous and see you afters from the girls.

"Um Miss Haley can I have a hug too?", little Maddie asks shyly.

"Of course you can honey come here", she says gently pulling the young girl into her arms.

"I want hugs from everyone!", Jamie exclaims then.

"OK then Little Man, go hug everyone then climb on inside the fort", Jay says smiling. Jamie proceeds to go around his family hugging them all followed by Lily and Sawyer. Maddie meanwhile shyly approaches Karen next who crouches down and invites the girl into her arms, she does slowly and gently hugs the woman, then she goes to Peyton in the same manor, the blonde copies or mother in law and crouches too, afterwards she goes straight to her Aunt and Uncle who lift her up in a group hug, the little brunette goes back to her Daddy. The three other kids have now made it to Abi and Will, Jamie goes straight to Will for a hug, while Abi crouches down invited the girls to her with a smile knowing they are both shy. Surprisingly they both coming running into her waiting arms, she hugs them back, then her and Will switch, with Abi hugging Jamie and Will hugging the girls.

With the kids already inside Jay climbs in the fort and settles between Lily and Maddie, both little girls cuddle into him on either side, Jamie and Sawyer each hand him a book, and he starts to read them doing different voices for different characters, the kids love it. The rest of the adults who are still in the room are impressed with the man even more. All four kids fall asleep in the fort cuddling up to him, while Jay also falls asleep, he is feeling a little off and figures a nap will help.

Everyone else is outside enjoying the sun now, Jay is taking a while and Haley offers to go and see where he is. She makes her way to the fort and peaks in, seeing Jay asleep with the four kids cuddled into him, his face is a little hidden under Maddie's hair but Haley pulls her phone out to take a picture to show the group. After showing the photo to everyone, they continue to sit and talk, the Tree Hill gang getting to know Abigail mostly. It takes about an hour and a half for Jay and the kids to wake up, he feels a little better and pushes through. The group of twelve finish tidying the living room and then pull out some board games, which last a while, then they order pizza for dinner, fun is had while watching a movie and eating dinner, by the end it is getting a little late, Maddie has fallen to sleep on her dads chest, he lifts her up after hugging everyone goodbye and wishing them goodnight, Jay promises to see the kids and whoever tomorrow at the Day Care, he'll be spending some time there with Maddie helping her adjust to the space, then Will, Abi and himself leave with the snoozing girl.

"Mommy can we call Aunt Brooke now I wanna tell her all about the pool party?", Jamie asks.

"Of course we can, why don't we all gather in the living room and call on her Skype, I'm sure she can't wait to hear all about it", Haley says.

"Yeah come on everybody", the boy says leading the way, everyone follows him and settle on the couch, the kids on their parents knees. Haley with her laptop sits in the middle, after signing in, they select Brooke's name and picture to call, the ring tone sounds and then Brooke answers and all they can see on the screen is her smiling.

"Hey Aunt Brooke, we miss you and can't wait for you to come home", Jamie says first and foremost.

"Hey Little Man, I miss you too", Brooke says.

"Your not the only one to call me that now Aunt Brooke, Jay calls me it too, I like it when you both do it", Jamie says innocently.

"OK Jamie Jam tell Aunt Brooke about the pool party, it's nearly passed bed time now", Haley says after seeing Brooke's smile falter. She hopes that Brooke will be OK about it, if she says anything around Jay the poor guy would completely understand and stop using the name but he is already so nervous.

"Oh yeah Aunt Brooke, we had so much fun, this morning I was so bored but then Aunt Karen and Lily came, so we played. Then Aunt Peyton and Uncle Lucas came with Sawyer, Jay and Will were right behind them with Maddie and her Aunt Abi, they are both super nice too", Jamie says.

"I told them I can't swim and Maddie said that her Daddy is teaching her, Abi and Will taught and helped me and Maddie in the pool because Jay couldn't come in, he is still not better from being hurt, but he promised that next time he would help us and we could maybe be like fishes swimming, I can't wait, I really like Jay", Lily says excitedly, getting a smile from Brooke, who is so used to seeing the little girl shy and quiet.

"Yeah we had lots of fun, after Jay helped me and Maddie get warm and into dry clothes too, he said he didn't want my mommy to get cold. Then we had a yummy lunch, there was lots too. Then we all played a game of chase", Sawyer says happily.

"And you know what the best part is Aunt Brooke?", Jamie asks his Aunt.

"What's that Little Man?", Brooke asks her excited godson.

"When Momma said it was time for a nap, none of us wanted to sleep, Jay and Maddie said we could build a fort in the living room to sleep in, he asked if it was OK, Momma and Daddy said yes, so we all collected a lot of cushions, sheets and blankets. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, the fort took up nearly the whole living room, we had to move the big chairs and everything for it to fit", Jay excitedly tells his Aunt Brooke.

"Yeah then me, Jamie, Lily, Maddie and Jay all climbed in the tent and he read us two stories", Sawyer says looking into the laptop screen.

"Jay is the best story teller ever, we fell asleep really fast and so did Jay, he napped with us in the tent, I really liked that we were all snuggled up together", Lily says softly.

"After that we played some games, and watched some movies while having some dinner. Maddie fell asleep so Jay said it was time to go, and Momma said it was almost our bedtime too, I was sad I wanted him to stay but Jay promised to see us at the Day Care tomorrow, so that's good. I can't wait for you to meet him Aunt Brooke, Jay's great, I hope you like him", Jamie says finishing with a rambled sentence.

"Well guys it sounds like you had a great day, I wish I had been there for it", Brooke says looking down.

"We miss you B. Davis, another pool party is so happening when you come home and are settled in again, speaking of that when do you think you'll be home?", Peyton says and asks her childhood best friend.

"P. Sawyer, I miss you too, this other party should have some great food homemade by my Tutor Mom, I am honestly so looking forward to a good meal, I've mostly been eating takeout, which is so bad. To answer your question P. Sawyer, I am actually catching a flight home tomorrow night so I will see you all on Tuesday", Brooke says excitedly.

"Aunt Brooke that's great we can't wait now for Tuesday", Jamie says with a big smile adorning his face.

"That's great Tiger, what time are you supposed to land?", Haley asks her friend.

"The flight is late so I get in pretty late, so I can just take a taxi home", Brooke says with a shrug.

"No I will come and get you, we wont hear any different", Nathan says to the brunette.

"Nate you really don't have to, I'll be fine", Brooke tries to protest with no luck, she ends up just saying thank you.

"Alright kiddos it's time for bed, say bye to Aunt Brooke", Haley says, the three kids were having a sleepover.

"Alright you three, be good for your parents OK, I'll see you on Tuesday, love you all", Brooke says to the children she thinks of as her nieces and nephew.

"OK, we love you too Aunt Brooke!", the three children exclaim, blowing kisses at the brunette on the screen. Haley, Karen and Peyton head upstairs to tuck in their respective children, and come back to see that Lucas and Nathan are chatting with their friend.

"Alright now I can ask B. Davis, how's Bitchtoria doing?", Peyton asks, getting a little chuckle form the brunette.

"Well P. Sawyer, Bitchtoria is now out of the hospital and has been home for a day now, I honestly am losing my mind, why did I agree to come here and help her?", Brooke says and asks her friends.

"You Brooke Davis are a good person, you went there to help the worst Mother, you've been by her side, when she has never been by yours, your an inspiration", Lucas says to the brunette.

"Well thank you, I just really can't wait to come home now, I've already finished packing and I still have a day to go", Brooke says glumly.

"It's only a day, it'll go by quicker than you think, travel safe tomorrow night, we all have to get to bed, we have a busy day a head of us tomorrow", Karen says lovingly to the brunette woman, who is still on screen.

"I will be Karen, I promise I hope you guys have a great day tomorrow", Brooke says smiling.

"Oh I'm not sure about a great day but we're gonna try, Jay is bringing Maddie into the Day Care for the first time and we have to make sure she feels comfortable and everything, because on Tuesday Jay starts working, his siblings are staying for a while to help out but we have to make sure Maddie is OK", Haley tells their friend.

"Aw guys I'm sure it will be OK, you are all amazing at what you do, the Day Care is a success, Little Maddie will do great and besides you, Karen and P. Sawyer will be there for her", Brooke says lovingly.

"Yeah we definitely will be and so will you right, I have a feeling that you and Maddie will get a long greatly with each other, she is a little shy though, so patient will be needed with her, but she really is the sweetest little thing, and you can tell right away that she loves her Dad to bits. Jay has done an amazing job raising her, he says that he couldn't have done it without his brother and sister, too", Karen says smiling too.

"Anyway we all think that Jay and Maddie make excellent additions to Tree Hill and our big dysfunctional family, Abigail and Will do too even if they are only here for a little while and to visit. And Tiger will you please just keep an open mind about all of this. Jamie isn't going to forget about you just because someone else calls him by your nickname for him, he loves you. I know that your not quite happy about it but please try not to let it affect you meeting him or anything", Haley says kindly.

"Yeah B. Davis, just don't do anything rash. This guy is one of the best ones there is, I know for a fact that if he knew you weren't OK with the name thing, that he would stop using the name immediately, he seems a little unsure and shy, nervous and anxious. He's very caring too B, I will tell more when you get home just please bare all of this in mind and think about it", Peyton tells her childhood best friend, while smiling slightly to take the little edge away.

"I can definitely do this guys, I promise it'll be fine, anyway I'll let you go, have a great sleep", Brooke says smiling at her tired looking friends.

"Text me when you know the arrival time and I promise to be there waiting for you", Nathan states with bids each other good night and the call is disconnected. A few more words are exchanged in the group before they all part ways for the night, Haley and Nathan to their bedroom, Peyton and Lucas in one guestroom and Karen in the other, everyone fell asleep pretty easy that night.

 _Maddie's here now and Brooke is coming home! What will happen?_


End file.
